


The Forest Fall

by Frankenshroom



Series: The Forest fall (1) [1]
Category: Original Work, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Big World, Demigods, Epic, F/F, F/M, Game of Thrones-esque, Gods, Legendary Pokemon - Freeform, Long, Love, M/M, Magic, Multi, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, POV Female Character, POV Male Character, POV Multiple, Pokemon Battle, Pokemon Fanfiction, Pokemon Journey, Swordfighting, Swordplay, Wordcount: 30.000-50.000, kind of, original pantheon of gods
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-05-30 06:33:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 36,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15091061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frankenshroom/pseuds/Frankenshroom
Summary: Hello Pokemon and fantasy fans alike! My name is hunter and i have been writing a Kingdom fantasy of my own creation for about a year now. This is Chapter one of this Epic and this is only one of the dozens of characters  there will be, gonna be female characters and gay characters and gay female characters trans characters and cannon trans people just in the world. There are not slaves in this story as it focuses on the implications of how people use and treat Pokemon in this fantasy world (also fuck having POC slaves in fantasy worlds that shit is tired, lame, and offensive) Anyway this is Chapter 1 and it's probably really bad (It was sorta bad in parts but i gave it some tlc.)





	1. A Hallowed Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Pokemon and fantasy fans alike! My name is hunter and i have been writing a Kingdom fantasy of my own creation for about a year now. This is Chapter one of this Epic and this is only one of the dozens of characters there will be, gonna be female characters and gay characters and gay female characters trans characters and cannon trans people just in the world. There are not slaves in this story as it focuses on the implications of how people use and treat Pokemon in this fantasy world (also fuck having POC slaves in fantasy worlds that shit is tired, lame, and offensive) Anyway this is Chapter 1 and it's probably really bad (It was sorta bad in parts but i gave it some tlc.)

 

 

 

Thaedres Arah San’Doral prince of the Thuusains 

26th of Iath, 751 A.O.

A Hallowed Meeting 

 

The forest was alive with the sounds of birds and galloping hooves as several riders strode down a narrow path surrounded by an ancient and dense forest. A sharp snapping sound broke the deep noise of  forest sounds, a flock of birds fled the from the trees leaving behind an eerie sense of dread. The riders’ hands all snapped to their weapons, as they scanned their surroundings for any sign of what could have caused this disturbance. The riders all made eye contact with each other in quick succession, as soon as they stopped they whistled with the synchronization of a grand orchestra. The whistle echoed through the surrounding forest as shadows danced in front of them, the shadows appeared for half a second before they disappeared and as soon as they did five figures appeared on an arching branch several yards in front of the group. Standing tall and casting varying shadows were four different bipedal pokemon, all with glowing eyes glaring through the darkness. Suddenly, a figure leapt down into the light from the mass of silhouettes above: an elf walked forward adorned in charcoal and emerald colored plate armor and wielding a banner on a long ornate pole. On the banner was the insignia of the famed Thuusanis warrior clan, an axe and a sword crossed on the face of a shield interlaced with vines and flowers trimmed with gold and white. The approaching warrior’s armor had the same gold and white trim and the same symbol on his chest, indicating that this was a person of high authority and prowess. The man bore no helmet and had not but a sword on his waist. 

He walked with poise as he approached the riders, smiling wide and with an aura of genuine friendship, he lifted his arms in a welcoming gesture, then clapped them together and began to speak. 

 

“Greetings friends, how was your journey? I hope the forest proved not to be a too deadly or horrifying, most do not survive the journey through our beloved Verdant Wastes without the aid of at least one pokemon,” he chuckled and said evenly, “Although it would appear that you are not most,” giving each of them a once over and meeting their eyes with that signature intensity that elves are famous for. “I am Thaedres Ara San’Doral, a zealot here for the Thuusains. I am here to take you to our legendary sanctuary deep in the heart of this great forest, it's been at least sixty years since we've had outsiders come to us,” silence lingered in the air before he spoke on, “I must admit to a fair amount of scepticism when it comes to an alliance with outsiders, but our leader thinks I am being too harsh and thus agreed to the meeting.”

 

“It was not as bad as the bards sing it to be Thaedres, I am Barov and, as you know, we come here to discuss terms of allegiance. We have traveled a long way to speak with the legendary Thuusains, fought many foes and stayed off of main roads to avoid prying eye and listening ear.” He spoke with the smooth voice of a diplomat, and Thaedres could understand why this man was the one addressing him. He sat atop his horse proudly and spoke in calm tones despite the fact that the riders had clearly seen more action in the last few days then they were letting on. But there was a sadness in his eyes, the unmistakable glint of loss.

 

“When we left the capital nearly six months ago. Our sultan gave us strict instructions to not let a soul find out about this meeting, we took detours that many would say are foolhardy but we had our orders. We stayed more than a thousand feet away from any township at all times and never called for aid, even when being ambushed - all this to say that this potential alliance is of the utmost importance to our kingdoms. We left the capital with eight riders, Hayleta and myself, our two guardsman Belios and Vorn, the Kallevestiir sisters Helva and Eva, Karis and…” 

His voice broke and he looked down trying to suppress a tear. Thaedres was no stranger to loss, he had felt it many a times before and knew the signs all too well. None of the riders would meet his gaze and the all wore grim expressions, the horses shifted their feet and grunted dismissively. 

Thaedres took the moment of silence to look closer at the group, all of riders were clad in iron plate armor lines with fur and engraved with runes. Barov was the least armored of all of the riders, he had a sword at his side and held tight in his hand was a parchment scroll sealed with red and gold and tied with a black ribbon.  

Hayleta wore more elegant armor than the others, polished steel and tanned leather straps, atop her head was a silver circlet and in the middle of the circlet was a glowing polished red stone. She had twin swords on her back and in her hand was a long black wooden staff topped with the same style of glowing red stone, she had long waist length hair back as night and intense green eyes that burned with anger and sadness. 

The two guardsmen bore the standard gear of most soldiers: a medium sized round shield, a sword at their hips, a spear strapped to the side of theirs horses and a bow on their backs. One had dark brown skin and eyes to match, while the other was paler but also brown of eye. They were sturdy-looking men, but not nearly as large as the two sisters to their right. 

The two sisters had identical faces and hair, long blonde and braided down their backs. They wore heavier armor than the guardsmen and were equipped with weapons that Thaedres had not seen the likes of. An enormous two headed axe with curved notches on each blade hung off of the back of one of the sisters, the other held a large polearm with a hammerhead shaped like a ram’s skull and large deadly looking pick. Their large arms were strewn with scars and burns, clearly these two were no strangers to the battlefield. Thaedres was no stranger to the battlefield himself, but he had a feeling the he'd rather not tangle with these two if he could help it. However, in the back of his mind, he knew they were no threat without a pokemon with them. Great wars had been won and lost on the back of Pokemon. Thaedres recalled one story of Steel-back the Nidoking and how he fell over a thousand men with one earthquake, the familiar mix of awe and fear welled up inside him but he quickly pushed those thoughts aside. 

The last rider of the group almost went unnoticed to Thaedres for a time, a small man hooded man with a knife at either side and a crossbow strapped to his back. Clearly the fact that Thaedres almost didn't notice the man was no accident. The hallow looks on their faces amplified the silence between the riders and the elf. The sadness in the air was palpable and a soft wind blew across the treetops above. It was Thaedres who broke the silence with a small cough, and all the riders seem to snap out of a daze and regained their composure.

“My apologies, Thaedres, my companions and I are still in mourning over the loss of Delos, our dear friend and the first sword of the sultan,” Barov said, trying to keep his voice from breaking.

“No need for apologies, my friend,” Thaedres smiled warmly at them, “All of us Thuusains are no strangers to loss. Please accompany me back to our fort and we will treat you with the respect of returning heroes” 

 

Thaedres lead the group on foot through the winding narrow road of stone, the Pokemon casually walked and leaped from tree to tree. The riders couldn't help themselves from glancing up and letting their eyes linger on the five Pokemon whose figures were still obscured by the shadows. Thaedres caught the eye of Hayleta who was staring open-mouthed as one of the Pokemon who leapt across an enormous fifty foot gap in the trees and then created a bridge of vines for the others too casually walk across. 

“How many pokemon do the Thuusains have under their control, Thaedres?” Hayleta inquired, still staring up at the figures in the trees. Thaedres burst out with a loud bellowing laugh that made Hayleta scowl up at him.

“Our control?” his laughter continued for a beat, “My lady you misunderstand, the pokemon that choose to be with the Thuusains are our allies, not our slaves. Sometimes they seek us out, other times we help them out in the wild and then they align themselves with us, and still some born here in the Thuusains domain choose to leave and venture out into the world!” Thaedres was glowing with excitement - he had never met with people who were not part of the Thuusain clan, besides the enemies he had met on the battlefield, but that was a different type of meeting. 

Hayleta continued to scowl at the elf, and, noticing this, Barov leaned over and said softly so only she would hear, “He meant no offense my lady, I'm sure of it. You have no need for that scowl.”

“Do not presume to discipline me, Barov, I do not appreciate being laughed at.” She spoke as quietly as Barov but her voice was anything but soft.

“He's right, you know,” Thaedres spoke loudly, “I meant no offense, my mirth was just a sign of how little I know of the outside world. You see, I was born and raised here in the Verdant Wastes. I only know pokemon to be our allies and close friends” 

“But you’re an elf right?” one of the two guardsman in the back spoke up, “Ain’t you thousands of years old? Have you really spent all of that time in this forest?” He spoke with the common accent of a countryman. The only men Thaedres had ever met with this accent were bandits and cutthroats sent into the wastes to pillage for pokemon and treasures, and as quickly as he met them, they met their fates.

 

“That I am. And you are right, elves do live thousands of years, but I am only twenty two years of age, and all twenty two of those years have been spent in or around this beloved forest.”

  
  


“Twenty two?” One of the Kallevestiir sisters shouted from the back, she had a thick northern accent, harsh and sharp.

 

“You're saying this  **_great warrior_ ** that was supposed to guide us through the wastes and defend us from any danger is a twenty two year old elf? That's not even out of adolescence for an elf, what the fuck was Sultan Zal’tavosh thinking? This babe wouldn't last five minutes in the vanguard.” She spat on the ground and grunted something aggressive in her native tongue to her sister. Thaedres stopped dead in his tracks, and the riders pulled their reigns to a halt. Thaedres turned to face the sisters and strode towards them with a deadly serious expression, he pulled his sword from its sheath and pointed its ornate blade at the sister who spoke against him.

 

“Eva, is it?” he said evenly.

 

“Helva,” she spat again but this time at the feet of Thaedres, she pulled the axe from her back and lept down to stand face to face with the elf. 

 

“ Well Helva, you are as ignorant as you appear if you think I have not seen my share of combat - I was born into the Thuusain clan, battle runs through my blood.” 

 

“Hah! You are like all the other royalty I've met, pretty faced and pompous. You boast of your prowess and ability because none dare speak a word against you, with all of your generals and swords masters paid to train you in fancy and proper fighting,” she spoke angrily and almost as if her words carried physical force. “But you know not the horror and cruelty of battle. You don't know sound of a skull splitting in two or the feel of blood splattering across your face as you sink your blade into your foe’s neck!” She scoffed and leaned in even closer to the elf “What qualifies you to lead us through the wastes, elf?” 

Thaedres paused for a moment.

“Why don't you find out,  **_bal’vak_ ** ?” 

Hearing the insult forced her attack, she swung her axe in a wide downward arc aiming for his shoulder. Thaedres rolled his flurry of steps inward, weaving h is way inside her guard and swifty kicking her in the chest forcing her to stumble backwards onto her knee. Before she could recover, he sent a second kick straight for her forehead, this blow sent the massive women five feet back and knocking her on to her back. A second later, Thaedres’ blade was at her neck pressing it firmly but without breaking the skin.

 

“Listen here,  **_Helva_ ** ,” he spoke, intoning her name calmly, yet maliciously. But before he could finish, Eva lept from her horse with her polearm in hand and charged Thaedres. She thrust the hammer straight at him as if it were a spear, he waited till the last second, stepped in and to the side then pushed her hammer into the ground with the flat of his blade. Then, swinging his other arm in, he punched her on the bridge of her nose, and then slapped her across the face with the flat of his blade. The two sisters stayed on the ground, staring up at the young elf's handsome but serious expression.

 

“Satisfied?” Thaedres said smugly regaining his smile. “Or would you like another demonstration? I could fight your two guardsman next? Or perhaps your witch and thief? Maybe all four of them? If you would really like, I could send all seven of you to an early grave.” 

 

“I have never seen someone move so fast yet strike with such strength,” said Hayleta clearly taken aback. “You are the most incredible fighter I have ever seen - the Kallevestiir sisters are renowned for their strength and skill in battle but you took both of them down in a matter of seconds!” Thaedres looked at her, and for a brief moment he thought she was smiling at him but then her expression quickly changed to that of anger.

 

“Aye, he's quite the elf,” Eva said holding her hand up, Thaedres took it and helped her to her feet without hesitation. Eva then went to help Helva up and then one after the other they grasped Thaedres by the arm and gave him a hearty friendly shake. 

“Well, that makes me feel better about the rest of our journey,” Helva announced brushing the dirt off of her. “I am sorry for doubting you, elf.” She bowed her head politely and the two sisters remounted their horses.

 

The party continued on under the dense canopy of trees, small beams of light shining through patches in the leaves. Thaedres caught several figures darting around in the woods on either side of the road; he knew them to be small pokemon looking for food and avoiding the eye of more dangerous pokemon, but he could sense the riders behind him were becoming quite tense. He decided not to clarify and let them stay on edge, this would naturally cause the horses to move faster which would allow him to walk at his normal pace. Thaedres considered for a beat what it would be like to have the physical limitations of humans, and he suppressed a shudder and laughed to himself thinking about the limitations of elves compared to Pokemon. They had inherent magical abilities and some of them had the strength of a thousand men, and other pokemon were so fast that they traversed continents over the course of a day. As they approached a large clearing in the trees, Thaedres paused and looked up at the tree line where the four pokemon were halted in their movement. One of the Pokemon leaped from his perch to a branch on a low lying tree nearer to the clearing. It was now clearly visible, tall and green with a powerful looking-tail, as he scanned the woods surrounding the glade. The Sceptile summoned a vine out of thin air and shot one end of it to another branch above him, he swung into the open and landed without a sound and began to sniff the air. Seconds later, the other three pokemon jumped down to join him: a Blaziken with a large sword strapped to it's back, a Gengar who sported a mischievous grin, and a Marowak in a set of armor fitted for its size, a small hand axe in its left hand and a large gray bone in his right hand.

The four of them spread out to check the surroundings and gave each other silent nods and hand signals. Thaedres understood these silent commands and responses, but he wondered what it must look like from an outsider's perspective. Suddenly three sharp clicking noises sounded out into the clearing, and knowing this to be a signal that one of the pokemon had heard or seen something, he patiently waited for the next signal. The world stood still as Thaedres waited; he knew that trouble would find them on the road back to camp, but this felt different. Something sinister was at work. Suddenly, the Blaziken and Sceptile burst forth from the trees, several arrows and bolts lodged in their arms and blood dripping from the sword now in Blazikens hand. Dread shot down Thaedres' spine like ice water, and when less than a second later Gengar and Marowak jumped out from the woods on the opposite side of the glade, Marrowack’s weapons were also coated in blood and Gengar’s smile was gone. That was a bad sign. They were surrounded, and Thaedres didn't know by who or what - he quickly decided to get the missionaries on their way to Fort Greenwood and he would stay and fight.

“Barov!” Thaedres’ voice was harsh and commanding as he waved his hand and whispered a spell under his breath to reveal the hidden path lit with green and gold lights on ornate poles to his right. “Get your people out of here  **_now_ ** , when you arrive at the gates sing the phrase  _ farther the fight wilder the wind, the song of the forest I shall sing _ ,” then he whistled a short tune. “You will be let in, no question, and when they ask what happen to us tell them to send reinforcements to the western barrier. Now  **_GO!_ ** ” 

Thaedres drew his sword and ran to the side of the four pokemon who were performing some quick first aid on each other. Barov did not try to argue, and in flash the horses took off down the trail at breakneck speed and within seconds the group was gone. Thaedres and the four pokemon stood in a small treelined ring with their backs to each other, silence fell heavy as the riders got too far away to hear and the secret entrance faded back into a marriage of trees. None of them made a sound as their eyes darted back and forth. Hours could have passed with how on-edge Thaedres was, but he knew this was a trick of battle or lack thereof. 

Nothing was more draining then the anticipation of battle; once the fight started, Thaedres would be calm and collected, he would let his mind rest, and instinct would take over, but this waiting was killing him. Finally, an arrow shot from the fold, heading right towards the skull of the Sceptile, but he was too fast. He turned to whip the arrow out of the air with his tail, and then, pointing his hand at where the arrow came from, shot a volley of razor sharp leaves leaving the distinct sinking sound of blade into flesh. Thaedres heard a pained yell and the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the ground. Four more arrows all from different angles found their way to the five Thuusains: Blaziken simply blew fire and incinerated the arrow coming for him, Marowak bashed it aside with his bone, Gengar created a black sphere of energy to absorb the arrow, and Thaedres angled his sword and deflected the missile. He looked over his shoulder to catch the eye of Sceptile. They both nodded and Sceptile summoned more vines and vanished into the trees to hunt down the archers. Almost as if they were waiting for it, dozens of bandits poured from the trees and charged the remaining four. Blaziken let loose a mighty roar as he leaped foot first at the nearest warrior, killing the man instantly, and began to fight. Marowak embedded his axe in the skull of an approaching man with a powerful throw, he then jumped in and started to bash break and bruised with his bloodied bone. Gengar floated into the air and shot rays and orbs of pitch black energy, vaporizing his targets instantly, but staying tentative to avoid arrows and spears. 

Thaedres waited a half second for the first warrior to reach him, a tall man with his sword outstretched and pointed right at Thaedres heart. He easily parried the blow and sliced down the man's chest, felling him instantly. Another sword slashed through the air from his left side, forcing Thaedres to take a half step back to avoid the blow and then he stabbed the soldier in the chest then pushed him off of his sword with his foot. Another man sprinted at him with a crazed look in his eye and wielding a large hammer, before the man could raise his hammer Thaedres lunged at him and struck the man in the face with his hand still wrapped around his sword hilt, his blow was enough to fatally push the bone of his nose into his brain. He fell eight more enemies before the fight was done, and as he scanned the remains of the dead men, most of them had steaming black holes in their chests, several others were burned and even more were either cut down or beaten to death by Marowak. A soft rasping cough sounded out and congruently all four of them turned to look at the not-yet-dead man on the ground. Thaedres walked up to him slowly and pressed his sword up to the man's neck.

“Who sent you?" he asked evenly.

The man spat some blood up as he began to speak. “The woman who is going to destroy you arrogant fucking Thuusains,” the nameless soldier spat blood up at Thaedres, splattering on his greaves, “The woman who’s going to usher in a new age and enslave every last Pokemon in the land.” Rage swelled up inside Thaedres like a geyser.

“Grayskull, would you do the honor?” Thaedres said through gritted teeth, Grayskull the Marowak slowly walked up to the man, dropped his two weapons, grabbed the man by the ears, and delivered a deadly headbutt shattering the man's skull and sending blood, brains, and bone shards everywhere. Thaedres hated to plague his mind with these bad thoughts but what was he to do? Ignore them? That was not an option, he would never ignore his thoughts and instincts. 

“You think there's more, Swiftfoot?” Thaedres spoke to the Sceptile as he leapt down from a branch the same way he would speak to any person. Swiftfoot nodded without looking back, the four pokemon were still on alert, Blaziken and Marowak hadn't even sheathed their weapons yet. “Let's search the woods, I have a feeling that our guests arrival may have something to do with this.” The four Pokemon nodded in agreement and followed Thaedres further into the heart of the Verdant Wastes. 

It didn't take long for the five of them to find the first tracks of the Invaders, footprints and snapped twigs furrowed the ground in a ring made by large tree roots. Sceptile and Thaedres knelt down and jumped into two branches while the other three pokemon nodded to each other and ran in opposite directions to search the forest. Sceptile continued on his way to the very top of the treeline and began to scan for any movement or disturbances in the surrounding forest, and after a beat he saw a small rustle in the center of a tree about a mile east of their position. Sceptile jumped down through the tree canopy to Thaedres's side. 

“You see something?” He said looking up at his forest green face. Sceptile nodded, still looking in the direction of the movement. The two of them started to smoothly shift their way from branch to branch moving at breakneck pace. As if notified by this, the three other pokemon all snapped their vision to the east and began to run. They all closed the gap quickly and stopped a ways away from the unknown threat. Thaedres and Sceptile found them first: a small army set up in tents and barricade. Blaziken, Marowak, and Gengar all waited behind trees a few yards away from the outer barricades. 

Thaedres caught the eye of Blaziken and he gestured silent commands to go back to the clearing and show the reinforcements where to go. His long powerful legs took him out of sight in a second as the remaining four stayed vigilant and unwavering as they watched the camp. The soldiers didn't notice them and continued about their normal duties, except for a crowd of about thirty or so surrounding a large open faced tent. Thaedres tried to get a good view of what was in the tent but the mass of armored and uniformed bodies stood in the way. The camp was broken up by the density of the trees, several tents were set up on larger sections of exposed root, barrels were slung over and tied with rope to hang.  

A deep bellowing scream broke the silence and the crowd surrounding the tent all jumped or fell away from the noise. Thaedres saw what it was and was horrified: an Aggron was chained and struggling against a long wooden table, and next to him was a man wearing a dark black hood with a small slot made of glass for looking. He had two metal tools in his hand and was standing next to huge vat of red-hot liquid metal, behind him on a rack were various metal rods of bracers but in the center was a large rune engraved cannon. The elf looked coolly down at the man and tried to remain calm as he saw what was happening. 

The hooded figure was welding the metal pieces to the Aggron’s back with magic hands to mount this cannon to its back, and Thaedres watched in horror as he forged the cannon onto the back of the huge metal creature. After he was done, they unchained the beast and let it stand up, with the cannon pointed over his left shoulder. At first the Aggron seemed confused and just scratched at the cannon, then he started to shift his stance to point his new extremity at mock targets. Then the hooded figure took a glowing blue stone out from a chest behind his work table, he climbed up onto the table and shoved the stone into the Aggron’s mouth. It chomped and swallowed the stone shuddering, then the runes on the cannon and it's eyes glowed a deep royal blue and the aggron roared furiously in approval. It reared back, aimed at a nearby tree, and then leaned in as a thick blue beam shot from the cannon hit the tree and then exploded in a blaze of cerulean blue fire. The blast made a noise like nothing Thaedres had ever heard, it was deep and bassy but had a high pitched echoing reverb. The tree was left burning until the poor old thing snapped and fell over at the point of impact, and Thaedres' head snapped back to the camp as he heard loud cheering and laughing from the soldiers - even the Aggron was roaring in cheer. Thaedres couldn't believe his eyes as the Aggron continued to obliterate the trees surrounding the camp, he was utterly baffled by this magic and he wondered if the Thuusains’ mages could learn anything from researching it. He slowly formed a plan in his head as he heard a whistle from below. 

Blaziken had returned and with him were three Thuusain riders on saddled Arcanines wielding bows. Behind them was Thaedres's good friend Ov’leil riding on her pet Venusaur, Willow, who had two other mages on her back. She had dark black skin and beautiful green eyes, her smooth bald head perfectly shaped as always. Thaedres was relieved to have his fellow Thuusains here, for he was still in shock and slightly panicking about this newfound evil. He found Swiftfoot's eye and gave him a nod before jumping down to give them the bad news. He nodded to the first of the three wolf riders, “Captain Anaklees,” then he recounted all that they had seen about the aggron and the small army. 

               “Gods dammit,” the Captain cursed still, keeping his voice down. “How many would you say?” His tan chiseled jaw was clenched and his hair was tied back in the same fashion as Thaedres’s.  

“Five, maybe six hundred,” Thaedres answered, “Not many Pokemon from what I could see, but they do have that monstrosity”

“Son of a bitch,” Ov’leil said from behind the riders. She was holding a lone wooden staff covered in vines and flowers and with an ornate jeweled head. She twirled the staff in the air and began to gather sunlight into a glowing golden orb which swirled majestically and floated around her left shoulder, the other mages did the same leaving three identical golden sun orbs. Moments later Sceptile, Gengar, and Marowak all joined the group, everyone nodded to them.

“But how did they find us? I thought we were hidden from the rest of the world here In the Wastes,” Ov'leil said as Willow nodded in agreement.

 

“We've never seen magic like that, Ov'leil, they fused a cannon to a pokemon and were able to give it control of the fucking thing. We don't even know whose these people are!” Thaedres explained, almost fierce, but remaining calm. “They must have found traces of our shields and barriers. Everyone knows this forest is our home, and people have been trying to get to us for decades. Well, now they've found us, at the eve of our grand council - this is no coincidence. My friends, I believe we may have a spy among us in the Thuusains.” He paused after saying this to scan all of their faces, and as he expected they only showed signs of shock and anger though he never really expected it to be any of those present. 

 

“He's right,” Captain Anaklees spoke up, “That's the only way they could have known to look in this part of the forest. Our enchantments work specifically to prevent anyone without prior knowledge of Greenwood to be able to find it, they would have been misled by their own doubts and misgivings unless they had a solid idea of it.”

“So do we wait and watch or give them a good fight, even with these horribly uneven odds?” The rider to the right of Captain Anaklees spoke with a more rural accent then that of his Captain. “We may not be able to win but the three of us could give them a distraction they would never forget.” He grinned and looked over at the other riders and they both smiled mischievously.

“Aye, but take Darkhand with you, as you know distraction is her speciality.” 

The riders grinned harder upon hearing this news, and the Gengar jumped loftily onto one of the Arcanine’s back with her own grin. Thaedres then made intense eye contact with Ov'leil. “Send word back to Greenwood, we cannot beat them without some back up.” 

She nodded and then turned and whacked the Willow tree on Willow's back to wake up three Bulbasaurs, she gave them the message and the three ran off in direction of the fort. 

“The rest of us will hold position here and kill any who get to close. Stay unseen and unheard as long as you can. The longer we can make them think it's just the three of you, the better.” He and Captain Anaklees made eye contact for a beat then the three Arcanines sprinted off as their riders readied their bows. Everyone else knelt behind bushes or stood by trees to stay out of sight from the encampment, waiting for any stray soldiers to come their way. They heard several cries of pain moments before an alarm sounded. That's when Thaedres knew the first three arrows had found their mark.


	2. Confidence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still the same chapter but i lovely lady gave me some advice and told me if i put them all into one or two fics with a bunch of chapters it would be better!

  
  


Hayleta Calloway, Emissary of Zein  

26th of Iath, 751 A.O.

Confidence

  
  


The chorus of hooves thundered along the cobblestone path at a full gallop, Hayleta watched the fight over her shoulder until the figures faded into nothing. They rode hard for what seemed like an hour until they came across a massive wooden gate where twin stone pillars on each side boasted the banner of the Thuusains. A stone gatehouse stood atop of the structure with one long rectangular grated iron window looking out into the path. A loud horn sounded as they came to a halt and two figures appeared in the gatehouse looking through the window at the weary riders. No one spoke or moved in the party or on the wall, Hayleta coughed and grabbed Barov’s attention. She mimed the motion of a bard to remind him of the words Thaedres told them to speak. Barov closed his eyes for a moment,  _ Farther the flight, wilder the wind, the song of the forest I shall sing _ . Then he whistled the tune as Thaedres had done 

“Who goes there?”

“Emissaries from Zein,” Barov answered without delay, “quickly give word to whoever you can, Thaedres needs help, we were ambushed in that clearing an-” 

“Ambushed?!” One of the voices interrupted, Hayleta heard some loud voices barking quick commands and in seconds the gates opened and three arcanines ran then leapt over the party each with an armored Thuusain riding it, followed closely by a enormous venusaur with three women clad in emerald green robes holding various magical items. The contingent of Thuusains paid no mind to Hayleta and the other ride, she wondered to herself why they were so worried about Thaedres. Surely they knew of his abilities, and if the four Pokemon with him were truly some of their most powerful and oldest, then why were they so worried? Hayleta pushed these thoughts aside as a man approached Barov. He was tall and muscular with the same armor Thaedres wore, but this man was accompanied by two Machamps clad in dark black plate armor and wielding 2 massive hammers each. The only reason Hayleta could tell they were machamps was the 4 arms each of them had. The man had no weapons on him, but Hayleta felt confident that his two bodyguards were more than enough protection.

“Come with me, please,” he said in an even tone that sounded eerily similar to Thaedres - come to think of it, this man looked exactly the same as Thaedres: long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes with an olive skin tone. They were even the same height, Hayleta couldn't hold it in any more she had to ask.

“Are you Thaedres' brother?” she said abruptly. The man looked at her and smiled before speaking, “Brother, no. I am Thaedres' father and king of the Thuusains, Thaedren.” He said leaving all of the riders stunned in silence with mouths agape “Now, I would urge you all to follow me, I suspect that you are very tired and in need of a hot meal.”

 

On their way through the gate, a man came to take their horses to a stable to be cleaned, fed, and watered. Once they got past the gate, the majesty of Fort Greenwood opened before them: large trees stood everywhere, fountains and gardens littered the open spaces, dozens of pokemon could be seen lounging around, working, training or eating around the beautiful scenery and old stone buildings. The buildings were a deep gray stone lined with dark green wooden features, and trimmed with gold and emerald lace, the whole place was on theme with the armor of the Thuusains, which Hayleta appreciated deeply. She was in awe at the sight of this place and at the many Pokemon who were so embedded into everything. She saw a Magmar working at a food stand grilling and frying things with the help of his own fire, a group of Tauros and Kangaskhans grazing in an open field, a Scizor in a butcher’s apron helping to chop meat, and a Machoke giving a massage on a bed of carpet squares. 

These Pokemon were not slaves nor pets, no, they were part of the society. They were their own Masters and lived their own lives. As they walked further through the streets, she saw a Hitmonlee and a Primeape meditating by a fountain in a Grove, clearly the ones who wanted to fight were allowed to but not forced to. Hayleta was utterly speechless at the sight of this wonderful place, there was so much life and energy - it was nothing like Zein’s capital Valas’roc, so unfriendly and violent. A friendly woman walked up to Hayleta and offered her a pastry and she accepted it. When Hayleta reached for some coin from her bag, the women waved her off and said, “Your beauty is payment enough dear.” She smiled at Hayleta, then walked on to give out more pastries. 

Hayleta felt guilty about taking this treat without paying the women. Thaedren noticed this and chuckled, “She doesn't charge anyone for them, this is how she spends her old age.” Several of the others were also offered free food, and they all took it gleefully and ate while they walked. 

 

“Does this mean we won't get a meal?” Vorn said with a mouthful of fried potatoes, which made Thaedren laugh much louder and for longer. 

 

“No, no, my good man, you will have a feast made for you during our meeting. We know about how long you've been traveling and about the dangers you must have faced getting here. You will have a feast waiting for you in the grand hall of Greenwood.” At this, the whole group smiled and walked on with Glee. After a while, Belios began to whistle, and a few Pidgeys and Tailows started to fly around him and whistle along. The sight and sound of this brought joy to everyone in the party, Hayleta thought this place must be incredibly special, so special that these little bird Pokemon were so comfortable living in the city that they would fly around and sing with a stranger. That's when Hayleta thought to herself that this place was one of a kind.

They walked along to where the normal buildings stopped and they reached a park. At the far end of this park was the unmistakable main keep for Greenwood surrounding a massive tree. It was the same color scheme as the rest of the buildings, but much larger and designed to withstand a siege. The building itself was hexagonal with two walls expanding out from either side, and at each joint there was a tower topped with a mounted ballista. It must have been decades since the last attack on the castle, ivy and moss left the keep looking peaceful and more like a piece of the natural scenery. The expanse between the town of the fort and the fort itself was more verdant and vibrant than anything Hayleta had ever seen, with trees of all shapes and varieties scattered across the grass like stars in the sky. Flowers grew in wild patches, creating beautiful pockets of color in a sea of green, large rocks were spread across the grove dotting the land with terrain and more color. As they walked, Hayleta noticed several groups of Pokemon resting under trees or in flower patches, or on rocks. 

 

Several of her companions yawned and the pace of the whole group must have slowed to lazy stroll. She knew this to be a spell of sleep magic cast over the park, but it did not seem to affect Thaedren. Hayleta may have only been studying magic for a few years, but she knew a thing or two about permanent enchantments. There they were, at the gate in the outer wall, which stood fifty feet tall and at least a hundred feet wide. Its dark iron woven bars looked more like a series of vines and leaves than the iron bars that they were. The gate swung open inward towards the caste as Thaedren waved his hand. This impressed Hayleta, she knew how hard it would be for her to move that whole gate open - it must have weighed two tons, and he just waved it off as if it was nothing. Three very distinct people came up to Thaedren and greeted him with a nod. 

The first was a very small but mature woman, about 4 and half feet tall with two large green wispy wings. Flowers, leaves, and vines wove together to form her beautiful dress. She had a round face, kind and dazzling blue green eyes, and neck length wild green hair, though she bore a worried expression. When she moved, a trail of fluttery green energy followed then faded as if she herself radiated with magic. The second was a very tall woman, with long green robes and bow slung over her back. She rode in on the back of a Tropius, and was followed by a procession of small grass Pokemon.The third man was tall, dark skinned and old with dark gray hair and a large beard to match. He walked with a bow staff, and was followed by a Scizor wearing a purple headband. The three of them were perfectly intimidating, but all in very different ways, especially the small woman. She put off an aura of power that Hayleta had never felt before, like she was ancient and wise beyond understanding.

“You are quite perceptive, witch, I am quite old and wise,” the small green woman said with a chuckle, turning to ask the enormous man, “It is nice to appear as one is, is it not Judgio?” 

 

“That it is, my lady,” he said heartily, now softy laughing, “although I look much older than you ever will” 

“Unless we both end up in the ground, my old friend.” 

“If you two are done discussing the woes of immortality, we have guests to welcome,” the tall woman called from the back of her Tropius. Thaedren walked up and stood next to the group while his two bodyguards ran off. Then all four of them turned and opened their hands wide, just as Thaedres had done back in the forest, then they clapped them all together and said at the same time, “Welcome to Greenwood.”

 

“I am Uvara, mother of this forest and keeper of the Thuusains, and these are my chosen praetors for the Thuusaains,” the small woman said smiling at Hayleta, “Please follow us into the castle, where you will be given rooms and time to rest up for the feast.” She and the praetors  turned and walked up the mossy stone stairs leading to the first arch of the castles long entrance walkway. Hayleta was in such awe of everything she was hearing and seeing that her pained thoughts of losing Delos were pushed to the far corners of her mind. Not to mention the fact that Uvara had read her mind and was possibly reading it now - just as she thought that, she heard the magical woman laugh to herself. This place was not done proper justice in the writings back in Zein, Hayleta had studied the Thuusains for weeks leading up to this journey and the accounting of this wonderful place was lackluster to say the least. And nowhere had she read about this ancient woman who could read minds, or the grove with sleep magic guarding the castle, or these other praetors. She wondered what else in the grand library of Zein was this inaccurate.

 

“This life holds many mysteries, young witch,” the voice of Uvara was clear in Hayleta’s mind as if she was speaking to her directly, but no one turned their heads. 

 

“How are you speaking to me?” Hayleta thought to herself, feeling slightly exposed.

 

“How is not the question you should be asking, young one.”

 

“Then why?” She was more annoyed than she could convey in thought form. Or could she just by thinking this way?

 

“Because you are special, Hayleta Calloway. Your arrival here is much more than the mere errand of an ambassador, your arrival here was influenced by Celebi and I. But for now, I need you to not focus on this, what I need from you, young witch, is to prepare. Prepare for your worldview to change, and for you to find a whole new meaning to the word purpose.” 

Hayleta had so many questions her head started to spin.

 

“All of your questions will be answered shortly, but for now rest, feast, and be happy, for you are in my realm, now.” The voice left a calm welcoming feeling deep inside Hayleta. She thought her life back at the Zein palace, her life of study and practice, of manners and waiting. Then she thought of the last few months on the road, of her true-to-life adventure, of battles and escapes, and she realized this was only the first step to her adventure. Her resolve strengthened at these thoughts and she hurried her pace as they walked through the last arch and entered into a grand hall. 

The first thing Hayleta noticed as they arrived inside was the smell and sight of a bounty of delicious looking food covering a section of a long dining table. The next thing she noticed was the massive tree coming up through a hole in the floor; it was so tall that the ceiling of at least fifty feet couldn't contain its full height. The tree’s trunk was so thick that a large staircase spiraled up it and branched off into several hallways that lead to walkways overlooking the hall. In front of the tree was a massive stone statue of Celebi, and sitting in front of that statue was a half-moon stone table backed with 5 large ornate chairs. This table was perpendicular to the five long rectangular wooden ones that made up the bulk of the hall, in which the middle of the five held their feast. The four praetors went to their respective seats at the half moon, the tall woman's contingent of Pokemon went and sat in nearby pit full of pillows.

 

“Please sit and eat,” Judgio said, his voice carrying far and echoing in the huge expanse of the hall. The party all took off their arments and placed them by the door after each one of them took a good look at the sight of this place. None of them felt any danger removing their weapons, This place radiated peace and happiness, they all sat down and began to eat. As they ate their feast of slow cooked meats, fruit pies, bread and cheese, and roasted vegetables, they were offered a strange blue drink from several people in robes holding trays of goblets. Hayleta drank without asking and so did the rest of them. It was a delicious sweet drink with the taste of berries, honey, and cream. The group felt an overwhelming sense of bliss as they ate and drank. 

Interrupting this moment was the same loud voice of Judgio, which suddenly carried a very serious tone. “Tell us more of this ambush.” The four other praetor’s expressions took on the same level of intensity. The group took a moment to finish their bites of food then washed it down with more berry nectar. 

Even though Barov lead them, Hayleta felt as if she would answer. “We didn't see much,” she said with a stronger voice than she was used to, this caused her to pause a few seconds longer than she anticipated. “All we saw before Thaedres sent us running down the path was the Sceptile and the Blaziken appear, stuck with arrows, and the Marowak’s weapons were bloodied along with the Blazikens swo-”

“Are they okay? The tall woman shouted interrupting Hayleta.

“Calm yourself, Liadra!” Thaedren cut sharply across the table, “So Thaedres sent you off before they reached the grove?”

“Yes”

“Do you think they saw your horses galloping off?”

“No, we had left by then, but when we were about a minute out of sight we heard the loud roar of your Blaziken” 

Liadra slammed the table with her first as she stood up. “I'm going out there to see for myself,” she barked at Thaedren, but before he could respond they heard the pitter patter of little feet running through the tunnel behind them. The Bulbasaur burst into the room in a full sprint, and ran straight to the feet of Liadra, bowed, and started to exclaim, in it's raspy voice, some worried barks and grunts. Liadra nodded, as if she could understand the creature, then she gasped loudly as the Bulbasaur finished his grunts.

 

“We're being invaded” she said sharply, “this Bulbasaur was sent from Ov’leil outside the enemies’ camp. They are sat there with over five hundred soldiers, and, apparently, they have mutilated an Aggron and put some sort of cannon on its back. The Bulbasaur spoke of this with a horrified tone, we need to rescue this Aggron and learn what we can from what's happened to it.” She gritted her teeth when speaking of the mutilated Aggron, clearly disturbed by this news and caring for all pokemon very deeply.

Thaedren scowled and then spoke, “How could they have found us? How could they have gotten past our barriers and enchantments? This is troubling. Uvara and I must retreat to the inner sanctum to study and meditate on this. Judgio and Liadra, muster your forces and meet Thaedres in the fold. We will send out the scouts to see if this force is the only one at our doorstep. Barov, I'm afraid our meeting will have to wait until it's safe to sit down and talk, and to the rest of you” Thaedren gestured to Hayleta and the others, “you are welcome to stay here and rest. We know you've had a long journey, however, if any of you are willing to fight, we would appreciate the support.” They turned and walked straight for the tree, waved their hands and an entrance appeared out of thin air, then they walked through it and the doorway disappeared behind them.

Helva and Eva stood up, stretched, cracked their necks and fingers, ran to the door where their weapons were and sprinted off much faster than two women of their size should be able too. Belios and Vorn both took one last big bite of food and a huge drink, then jogged over to their arments and followed after the Kellevastiirs. Karis walked up to Hayleta clapped her on the shoulder firmly and said, “For Delos," then ran out of the hall with his two knives in hand. Judgio and Liadra left the hall in a hurry, Liadra’s Tropius and squads of pokemon running up and joining her. 

Barov took his goblet and decided to go to his room. He calmly looked back once he got to the stairs and said “Don't let our mission fail, Hayleta, fend these Invaders off. They’re only attacking now because of our arrival.” He nodded to her, then went up the stairs to retire for the night. Hayleta was suddenly alone in this grand hall, save for a couple or servers and sleeping Pokemon. She didn't know what to think about all this, all she knew is that she wanted to go and join the fight - she wanted to dedicate her life to the Thuusains after spending this short time here in Greenwood. So she summoned an orb of water, splashed it across her face, and ran to the door to grab her twin swords and her staff. When she reached the town, she stopped by the stables to grab her horse, but it was nowhere to be seen. She looked in all the stalls and out in the patch of grass for grazing, and concluded it must have been taken to pull a cart or something. She made a loud huff and she stretched and readied herself for a long jog, when she heard Uvara's voice sound in her head once more.

“You will not have to run to the fight, Hayleta, I will send you there.” Hayleta feet felt light and her head spun, and in an instant it was over and she was down on one knee with her palms on the floor of the forest.

 

“Hayleta?” Thaedres said, sounding confused, crouching by a bush, gripping his sword and alone.

 

“Uvara sent me with her magic,” she said urgently; there was no time to dally on what happened. “What's the situation here?” 

 

“Captain Anaklees and his two riders are routing the enemy to distract them. However, the bulk of the force has now formed ranks and is getting read to March at Greenwood.” Thaedres's tone returned to normal.

 

“Reinforcements are on the way, Judgio and Liadra are gathering them.”

 

“That might be overkill, Ov’leil and our other mages here have gathered enough sun for a massive solar beam, and their ranks are pretty close together. If they stay like they are, they’re gonna be finished before they even move out. And from what it sounds like, they’re confused and don't know where they are being attacked from,” he said evenly, “although they have already unveiled one hidden weapon, perhaps they have more we are not prepared for.” As he finished speaking, the two of them heard a rustle from the brush behind them, Hayleta drew a sword and readied herself but Thaedres remained still. 

“Ov’leil?” 

 

“Yes, I am here,” she said, stepping forth from the trees and looking worried, “they found us at our position to the west where we had a clear shot. We got chased off and I split away to come warn you that the mages and Willow are cut off.” She spoke hurriedly and darted her head back and forth after gesturing towards where Willow and the mages were escaping.

“Shit. Okay, Hayleta and I will go and do what we can for the mages, you round up Swiftfoot, Grayskull, Darkhand, and Kazma and tell them to start the attack, Captain Anaklees will see this and join them. Hopefully this will draw some attention away from mages, and we can get them set up again.” Ov’leil nodded, darted forward, and teleported in a flash to a tree branch and then continued on through the trees. 

 

“Wow,” Hayleta said under her breath, but loud enough for Thaedres to hear, “That was a really fast teleport.” 

Thaedres chuckled, “Here we call them blinks,” and sprinted off. Hayleta furrowed her brow and followed.

Hayleta steeled herself as she struggled to keep pace with Theadres; he ran with the speed of a gazelle and knew the forest better than she did. The one thing that the Zein libraries did recall well were the abilities of elves. This person she was with was unlike anything she had ever seen but was exactly as she had read about. The more she was with Thaedres, the more she felt that sense of adventure swelling up inside her, like meeting him on the road in the was the turning point. They rounded a wide tree and saw Willow the Venusaur and the two mages drawing a large green rune with a glowing magic essence. They looked up at Thaedres for less than a second before turning back to their work.

 

“Thaedres! Good, you can stand guard while we finish.” 

 

“What's this, Reath? Ov’leil said you were spotted and chased off?” She huffed impatiently,

 

“We were! Does this look like a good position for a solar beam?! We lost them when Willow left a trail of stun spore behind to slow them down. We made it to this clearing only minutes ago”,  the other woman said, still concentrating heavily and slowly shifting forward, drawing the outer edge of the glyph.

 

“And this is a nature rune, Thaedres.  _ Celebi  _  herself came and told us to draw them wherever we could, and that this was a lot bigger than you made it out to be.” 

 

“Wait, what? Did you say Celebi?” Hayleta said looking dumbfounded. 

Thaedres ignored this,“What do you mean? There's only 500 of them, or were before Anaklees got to ‘em. Why is this such a big deal? And when did Celebi get back?” he forcefully inquired, slowly gaining volume.

 

“Clearly she came back for this!” Raeth snapped back, still remaining focused. They finished drawing their lines in the rune in synch and it began to emit a faint green glowing aura and a small humming noise, as small plants and flowers grew rapidly all around. The two mages looked weary. “This magic must be complex and required a lot of energy,” Hayleta thought to herself. She couldn’t do anything like this.

 

“Thaedres, we need you to guard us while we draw these. Celebi told us to draw four of them anywhere in the forest and it requires our full attention,” the second mage said in a firm tone as she and Raeth got on the back of Willow. 

Thaedres nodded, “I will, Aleia.” He and Hayleta followed on foot, keeping a light jog to keep up with Willow. Venasuars are not the most fleet of foot, but Hayleta knew of all of their magical applications from study. 

They walked for a ways before finding another clearing, and the two mages and Willow got to work quickly. Hayleta drew her swords and began to circle the edge of the clearing, scanning her surroundings for any signs of movement. Thaedres did the same on the opposite side. The woods were especially quiet and Hayleta saw nothing, but she felt a presence of something, something incredibly powerful. The presence remained distant and unmoving as she heard Thaedres gasp and then a loud cry of “I found them!” 

Suddenly, 6 warriors in red and black armor attacked Thaedres. He quickly parried the first blow and stabbed the man in the chest, but then had to roll backwards to avoid a hammer swing at his head.

Hayleta ran around the circle, being sure not to step on the lines, and she kissed the back of one of her swords and lobbed it at a soldier. It sunk into the man's stomach and he keeled over while Thaedres stepped inside the guard of another and cut him down. She then pulled her staff from her back and sent a bolt of energy at another, which melted the man's skull as it made contact. He fell to the ground right in front of Thaedres, who was locked in an intense fight with another soldier wielding dual blades. The soldier unleashed a torrent of blows against Thaedres, but Thaedres was too fast and swatted them all away. The last soldier turned his attention away from Thaedres after failing several thrusts with his spear. He reared up and threw his spear at Aleia, but Hayleta was prepared for this. She waved her staff upwards, forcing the spear to angle off and impale into a tree. The man spun around just in time to see Hayleta thrust her staff forward, sending the man back into a tree with such force that his polished plate dented like soft bread and he crumpled to the ground. She ran up and slit the man's throat to finish him off, then looked over to Thaedres who had just found his opening. He spun around and kicked one of the man's hands as he swung his sword in and he recovered from the kick with a  slash down his chest, cutting clear through his armor with ease. Hayleta jogged over to the man with a sword sticking out of his neck and retrieved it.

“You're not too bad,” Thaedres remarked, looking down at his sword and wiping the blood off with a glowing hand. “That throw was quite impressive.” 

Hayleta smiled at this, “You're not so bad yourself, that kick was the fastest I've seen.” They both turned their heads as that same deep humming noise emanated from behind them.

 

“Yes, yes, well done both of you. Now if we're done trying to fuck each other, we have to keep moving,”  Raeth snapped at them while getting on Willow's back. Hayleta didn't even try to hide it, she smiled and gave Thaedres a wink, he blushed bright red and turned away from her eyesight and ran over to Willow. They finished up the last two runes with no disturbances expect for a scout with two Houndooms hiding in a bush trying to find them, but they quickly dispatched the three before there was even a struggle. They huddled up by a tree after the last rune was placed and Thaedres leapt up into the trees from the ground and scanned their surroundings.

 

“We're about 2 two hundred meters from the enemy camp,” he called down, as he reappeared from the treeline and leapt down. 

“We should go back and regroup with Ov'leil and Swiftfoot. You two should go attack and help Anaklees distract them, I have no idea what Celebi is planning with these runes but I have a feeling it's gonna be big,” Aleia said. 

 

“How will you find Ov'leil?” Hayleta replied.

 

“She has already been signaling to let us know where to go after we have finished.” She and Thaedres clasped arms and nodded to each other. The two mages got on Willow's back and began to slowly ride into the forest. Thaedres began walking in the direction of the enemy camp with his sword drawn, gaining some speed, and they jogged for a ways before Thaedres put his fist up, signaling to stop. They could hear the sounds of fighting off in the distance and both peered their heads around a large pine. Hayleta decided to continue to be bold and she pressed her body up against Thaedres' as they looked at the enemy camp. She had no idea why she was being this way, but it felt good, and she didn't want to stop, she felt confident and beautiful. After all, this was her grand adventure and she had never laid with anyone before. Plus this elf was truly incredible. 

They saw the camp in distress, dozens of bodies littered the makeshift wooden walls, they saw multiple fires being fought and several men running around, ablaze. 

Thaedres started to chuckle, “Anaklees and his Arcanine riders are the best distraction we could have asked for.” 

“So we should go and help, right?” She asked and Thaedres turned to look at her. They stared at each other for a long while and nodded. They embraced each other for a short second and then Hayleta did the most bold thing of all - kissing him, grabbing the back of his neck to keep him close. Thaedres looked stunned, but before he could say anything Hayleta pulled her swords from her back and ran at the chaos.


	3. The Battle of Fort Greenwood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still the same chapter, the first five will all be one work

Thaedres

26th of Iath, 751 A.O.

The Battle of Fort Greenwood

 

Theadres was still in shock, he couldn't believe this beautiful foreign witch kissed him right before the heat of battle. He followed Hayleta as she ran up to the wall of the camp, she pointed her staff at top of it and then launched herself gracefully into the air and just above the walkway. She landed with a light thud and then said, “Come on, slow one, are you gonna let yourself be one-upped by some foreign witch?” She smiled down at him. Thaedres made a running start, bent down, and jumped twenty five feet in the air to make it to the top of this wall. Hayleta looked at him, impressed. Several soldiers saw them and ran towards at nearby staircase.

 

“Ladies first,” he said, as Hayleta ran towards the stairs with her swords in hand she muttered some quick words under her breath and the stairs smoothed into a ramp. The soldiers hadn't made it to the them yet, but the stopped dead when they saw this happen. Hayleta took advantage of his halt, jumping onto the ramp and sliding down it with great poise. One soldier made the mistake of running at her spear in hand, and she leapt from the ramp avoiding his thrust and cut the man's head clean off before landing. Thaedres slid down the ramp and decided to take a page from Hayleta’s book, the threw his sword hard and it plunged into the forehead of one of the soldiers, just as Hayleta flourished her blades to cut the last soldier open at the stomach. Thaedres ran up and grabbed his sword from the corpses skull. 

 

“Satisfying, isn't it?” Hayleta said with a giggle, Thaedres thought this was really an incredible woman to be able to flirt and laugh during a battle.

 

“Aye, I feel I may learn alot about improvisation from you, witch.” He winked at her and then the two of them started to scan the camp. They were cut off from the bulk of the force by a watchtower which had toppled leaving behind five bodies crushed underneath. A group of twenty or so soldiers were running at the two of them with weapons drawn, Thaedres flew at them with his sword outstretched the group of soldiers were caught off guard and Thaedres cut down seven of them with ease, parrying their blows and riposting through them. They regained their composure and started to hack, slash, and stab at him, but his feet were spry and his hands were fast as he avoided their attacks. He found openings in their frenzied attacks quickly dropping their numbers to five, none of them moved they just stood there facing Thaedres with swords in hand. 

 

“Make your move, boy,” he said through gritted teeth and gripped his sword a little tighter, and one of them was foolhardy enough to fall for the bait. He charged at Thaedres sweeping his blade from up high and cut in a downward arc, Thaedres decided in milliseconds to make an example of his poor move. Lunging forward striking the man's elbow with his fist, shattering it and stopping the momentum of his swing. He then took the man by the neck as he was screaming in pain, and spun and threw him at the wall head first. His skulled exploded into blood and fragments. The other men looked absolutely terrified. Thaedres feinted a step at them and the four soldiers dropped their weapons and scattered. He realized that in the frenzy of battle he had lost track of Hayleta. The elf quickly spun around just in time to see her shoot a large ray of red energy blasting apart the fallen tower. Thaedres ran over and they both waited for the cloud of dust to disperse, and while it was clearing Thaedres mustered up the courage and grabbed the beauty by the waist and kissed Hayleta, catching her off guard. She looked at him and smiled. 

“So you did like it.” She brushed a strand of hair behind his ear. The dust cleared before he could think of something to say - she was better at this than he was. Behind the rubble was a bulk of the enemy force, standing there in formation,swords pointed at Thaedres and Hayleta. Thaedres saw on the other side of the camp that Swiftfoot and the others were fighting against the rest of the enemy’s numbers.

 

“Hayleta, now may be the time for some magic," he said

 

“I can't take them all out at once. I can take a lot but I'm already getting tired and if I over exert myself, you will be left alone in the fight.” 

 

“Well, then I'm out of ideas. At least I get to go out fighting alongside someone so beautiful,” he said, no change in his expression or the direction of his gaze, still looking at the camp.

“We're not dying here, elf.” She sounded so confident that her words carried infectious strength. “My adventure will not end like this.” 

 

She lifted her staff and pointed it at the vanguard now approaching them. She sent a wave of red mist at the front line, and they all looked dazed as it washed over their faces. The front line turned on the rest of them with blade and shield, but were quickly overwhelmed and killed, giving the two of them time to escape. They sprinted around the edge of the camp to reach their allies avoiding arrows and a few weaker spells. They rounded past a line of tents and saw Anaklees, Ov’leil, Swiftfoot, Grayskull, Kazma, Willow, Raeth, Aleia, and Anaklees's Arcanine all fighting tooth and nail, battling through the enemy force. Then he saw the two other Arcanine riders run past and unleash a dozen arrows during their pass, each finding their mark. 

 

Thaedres sprinted into the battle, sword in hand and looking furious. Hayleta stayed back and drew a large red circle around her with her staff and then began to scrawl runes. Thaedres ran another fifty feet before he reached the fight. A man saw him coming and threw an axe at his chest; Thaedres made another snap decision to try to make use of this axe. He spun around rapidly to catch the back of the axe as it passed him, and then hooked it to his belt and charged the man. Thaedres pushed his blade down to counter his stab and used the momentum to knock down his foe, killing him with a hit of the axe. Thaedres stood up and did a brief look around. He saw six men with pikes lit with fire cornering and poking at Swiftfoot,  this enraged Thaedres as he ran to his aid. He flung the axe into the back of one of the pikeman's heads from only a few feet away as to cut the closest one down in quick succession. The other four tuned their heads, hearing the two pained yells of their fallen comrades. 

Swiftfoot took this brief moment of distraction to kick one soldier on his right into a sharpened section of wooden wall that had fallen over. The man wailed in agony as the Sceptile summoned two blades of leaf from thin air and cut the other three down in a flash. The two of them took down the six armor-clad pikemen in seconds and then they slapped their hands together and darted into the fray. They ran to the aid of Willow and the three mages, who were pinned down by a ring of flames made by a spilled barrel of oil and a well aimed arrow. They saw Hayleta sprinting towards a tower in the center of the camp. The archers had not yet reached the top of the ladder, but had bows in hand. Her staff was glowing a brilliant crimson red and so was her free hand as she slowed her run for a few steps, pulled her staff back like a javelin, and heaved it at the tower. Only, the staff stayed in her hand, and a mock image of her staff of the same crimson glow was sent at the structre . The staff in her hand returned to its regular black wooden color. The tower shook slightly as the image of the staff sunk into a wooden beam.

 

“That was it?” Thaedres thought to himself ,“That was such a grand gesture for noth-”

 

He was interrupted by the loud sound of wood cracking and an echoing rip. The tower was torn and pulled from its center in the direction of the enemy Aggron, leaving an enormous dust cloud after collapsing all around the great metal Pokemon, dozens of soldiers near the beast died in the impact, leaving the Aggron buried in rubble. Thaedres and Swiftfoot turned their attention back to Willow. 

They were now surrounded by at least fifty soldiers in an organized rank. Normally they would have been blasted apart by a quick few spells or an earthquake, but the battalion was backed by their own mage, deflecting, absorbing and blocking the magic barrage. Thaedres and Swiftfoot ran to their aid, Swiftfoot whistling loudly and flinging his arms back as he accelerated ungodly fast. He made a mighty leap into the sky and the yellow orbs on his back glowed and gathered shimmering energy from all around him. He thrust his hands forward and unleashed a massive torrent of leaves, all glimmering with a green glowing aura, all sent at the opposing force. The enemy mage furrowed his brow as he summoned a glowing white barrier above them, which withstood the leaves for a full second before it cracked under the intense force of his storm, shattering and leaving the soldiers beyond exposed and knocking out the mage while he bled from the nose. Only six men were spared from a death by leaf, and they huddled together, putting their shields and spears up and charging at Willow. 

The Venusaur shook its back and yellow spores fell from its drooping willow branches. The men were stunned in place, feet from the great green beast’s face and then the three mages on her back summoned blue bubbles and captured the stunned men inside them. After a blink, the the three bubbles disappeared from sight, and the mages looked drained of some energy. The battle continued on: Thaedres spotted Grayskull fighting ten men at once and killing them all in a blur of shattered shields and broken faces.

Thaedres smiled as he thought of an idea for a Grayskull banner if he were to ever lead. Darkhand was still on the back of one of the Arcanines and was spreading her usual brand of chaos and despair amoung the back line - ghost Pokemon magic had a tendency to instill unexplainable fear in even the bravest of warriors. Kazma, with sword in hand, was butchering his way through a large group of elite warriors wielding twin swords, greataxes, and scythes. With his flat-head dark iron blade he made quick work of what should have been a long and drawn out fight. Everything in the fight was going the Thuusains’ way, despite them being horribly outnumbered. Thaedres and Anaklees met eyes after Thaedres cut another soldier down. They ran at each other and met in the middle.

 

“This is going well.” Anaklees said with a troubled look in his eyes, “Much too well.” Thaedres nodded in agreement as a volley of enemy arrows flew at Willow, and Kazma made use of his mighty legs to leap up and intercept the volley with a massive roar of fire.

 

“Do you think whoever these Invaders are would sacrifice this many as bait?” Thaedres wondered, reading Anaklees’s expression.

“I'm not sure, after hearing about what they did to that Aggron, I'm sure whoever is in charge would be at least that cruel,” he replied loosing an arrow from his bow with a twang. It sunk into the skull of a soldier running at Grayskull. 

“And who the hell is in charge? All I've seen are a few commanders, but not one real leader,” Thaedres replied loudly, kicking aside a spear thrust and then running the attacker through with a swift lunge. 

“During one of our passes I saw a very large woman with ornate gold and black armor and a masked helmet made out of an Aron skull. She shouted orders from the back of a carriage pulled by two Dodrios clad in iron armor. With her on the carriage was a red skinned foreign looking man with wild hair and a beard. He wore a kimono and bore a sheathed sword in his hand. Thaedres...” he paused for a moment to nock and loose another arrow, finding another soldier. “This man looked exactly like the image of Kuvosh etched in the legendaries tome.” 

Thaedres's mouth fell agape hearing this. Not a single legendary or their demigod had been seen in seven hundred and fifty years. He had heard the recalling from his father so many times he could hear it in perfect tone from memory whenever he wanted. His father called it the Great Obliteration, a spell that wiped the memory of all humans and creatures across the lands, removing any memories of the pantheon of Gods, demigods, and the legendaries. His lapse in focus almost caused his death when a spear grazed his cheek spraying a small mist of blood. He spun around and saw the thrower with pain tingling across his body. 

He closed the gap in a few long strides and cut him in half with a quick and angry sweep of his blade. He quickly ran to Anaklees's aid; his friend had his spear out and was spinning it around to parry incoming blows from five enemies. By the time Thaedres got to them, Anaklees had killed three of the warriors with quick jabs, and Thaedres cut the other two down with lunging arcs of his sword. 

“What does this mean? Have all of the demigods woken up? I thought Uvara said we had more time damnit!”

“I don't know Thaedres, but there may be more to this attack than meets the eye.” Anaklees replied. 

 

Many of them had items looted from the battle, Grayskull had dragged a bag full of axes and hammers tied to his bone behind him, Kazma was holding a small sharpening stone and was working on his blade, Ov’leil carried a bag with server scrolls rolled up inside it, Raeth held a bag of dimly glowing jewels, and Hayleta was wearing a brand new gauntlet, obsidian black with a glowing red gem in the back. 

 

“That was an impressive bit of magic, taking out that tower,” Thaedres spoke up as they began to bandage up small wounds. “Everyone, this is Hayleta, a brilliant witch from Zein.” They all nodded or waved quickly at her.

 

“So Thaedren’s letter reached the Zienen, good.” Anaklees said putting his bow back on his back, and stroking the fluffy white mane of his Arcanine.

 

“Yeah, that was amazing!”Aleia said excitedly, “I never would have thought to do that.” Hayleta blushed as all of them nodded again and muttered in agreement.

 

“We could use more creativity in our spell casters, they seem a little stale to me,” Anaklees said, smiling and laughing at Raeth, Aleia, and Ov’leil, who scowled back at him.

 

“We should send word to Uvara,” Raeth said after a few silent moments. The three mages closed their eyes and concentrated.

 

“Saviir, did you tell Thaedres of what we spoke of before he and Hayleta stormed into the fight?" Anaklees asked,  looking at one of the riders,

 

“We think there might be two other encampments in the forest. I came to the conclusion that they must not have found our exact location but just an area on the map. They might have  triangulated our position, and if that's true we need to see what those camps have to offer,” Saviir explained to the group, and without a word they all prepared their things to move out. Raeth summoned a large wooden rectangular crate from thin air and collected everyone's items then stored the crate on Willows back. Thaedres watched as Ov'leil and her two companions offered to let Hayleta ride with them on Willow's back, which she accepted and the four spell casters climbed onto Willow's massive back and began to talk to one another. Hayleta looked like she had always been a Thuusain talking to the three mages. Just as they were about to leave, a small and silent green flash of light shone in the middle of them all and Uvara appeared.

 

“Hello brave Thuusains, you've done well here but I have bad news. I investigated Saviir’s idea and he was correct, there are two much larger encampments positioned outside  Greenwood. I have come here to check on your progress and to send you all back to our main gate. Judgio and Liadra are setting up for a siege and Thaedren is starting the evacuation of all our peaceful citizens, though many of them are choosing to to fight for our home instead of retreating to the inner sanctum to take the long road into the catacombs. Please group up here in front of me and I will send you back.” They all huddled up closely in front of Uvara. “Is everyone prepared?” 

 

“Wait for us!!” One of the Kellevastiir sisters shouted from behind some bushes and they and the other three from Hayleta's traveling group came into the fold.

 

“We've been searching this god damn forest for ages trying to find the fight and now we're too late!” The other Kellevastiir sister said in a huff. They ran over and joined Thaedres and the others still positioned in front of Uvara. Her eyes turned over and glowed a majestic green color and in a flash they all vanished before they appeared at the front gate of Greenwood.

 

Trenches and pitfalls were being dug all around the entire perimeter of the fort, and several Scythers were setting up carving stakes to turn the pit falls into deadly traps. Groups of mages were spread out drawing more elaborate runes in the ground and on trees. From what Thaedres knew about magic, these runes generated a field of magic energy, allowing people to perform greater feats of magic and replenishing their energy faster. He saw Judgio standing on the wall, barking orders all around at the Thuusains. Thaedres had never seen so many of his kin suited up for battle before, and the sight of this both inspired and struck fear in his heart. He needed to find his father and tell him of the sighting of Kuvosh. He ran off in the direction of the keep before any of the others told him to do something or asked him what to do. He ran past the main street of food carts and performing mats, but it was deserted and felt almost eerie compared to its usual life. He made his way through Sleepwood Grove and saw no Pokemon sleeping, which also made him feel fear as he resisted the sleep enchantment with no effort. He ran down the series of arches that became a tunnel leading into the main hall, he ran up to the Uva tree and leapt across its ground level in several long bounds railing to the stairs below, and he flew down the stairs five at a time. He finally reached the massive door to the inner sanctum where he saw his father, Thaedren, leading the last of the citizens through a smaller door on the opposite side of the massive chamber. The door lead to a narrow winding path that wove it's way underground like a massive snake until it took you to the catacombs. He ran over to his father and spoke quickly.

 

“Father, Anaklees thinks he saw something. He saw a man who looked exactly like the etching of Kuvosh just there.” He pointed to the etching of the man with wild hair, a fire blazing around him. “We both know that Captain Anaklees is true of sight and has unwavering awareness.”

 

Uvara appeared out of this air and shouted, “WHAT?! No, this can't be, if any of the demigods had awoken I would have felt it.” But in her expression, Thaedres saw doubt. “Unless…unless...” she started to pace and scratch her head furiously. “Thaedren, I told you we should have interfered with these recents advances in magic!”

 

“And I told you if we meddled in the human's lives we would be no better than the dictators of old, who made all the people of the world into slaves of the pantheon and their rules.”

 

“But now look what's happened! For all we know, the demigods could be awake and at large.”

 

“I'm not so sure, Uvara, I think all four of us would have felt it if any of the legendaries were awake. Clearly Kuvosh is awake and is part of this attack. But I don't think that many more could be up and around in the world, and they would be without their full strength, being alone.”

Uvara continued to pace but her brow furrowed intensely hearing the last bit of his words. 

 

“I can take Kuvosh if he's on his own, but why is he even with these Invaders? Who even are they?”

 

“They are the Galavadren, a coastal kingdom in the south.”

 

“Gods damned humans and their hundreds of kingdoms, I can't keep track of them all.”

 

“You've actually had us keep our eye on Tenari pass, the only expanse of land that keeps them from the rest of the world. They are even more south than us, Uvara.”

 

“Well?! How did they get here if not by the pass? No one could have gotten an army through that barren stretch of fire and desolation.” She said, glowing brighter as she paced.

 

“Probably by sea, they are a coastal nation as I said, they must have a strong navy, and as you know, our presence in the sea is virtually nothing.”

 

Yes, yes, on my orders if I remember correctly,” she said calming down but still remaining focused. “Why do you think this is happening? Is there any way they could have learned that I was awake?”

 

“Maybe someone had been doing some research; there are ancient and powerful things to be learned from research, dear Uvara. I suspect now that's it's been so long since the Obliteration, a second cycle of godly knowledge could come into the fold - maybe this is just the first step in a plan for world domination, maybe someone has an old grudge against us, maybe one of the legendaries really did wake up and is stirring up conflict. All we know is Kuvosh is here.  I trust Anaklees with my life.”

 

“Well, I'm not hiding anymore, if Kuvosh is here I will not let my beloved forces of the Thuusains be pithy to his demonic blaze. He and his brothers are aggressive fighters and powerful casters, the last time I fought one of the Voshunds he killed thousands of elves. I will not let that happen my people or  **_my forest._ ** ”

She flapped her great emerald wings and flew out of the chamber, Thaedren turned to his son.

 

“Thaedres, I'm going to give you something, something I was saving for your hundredth name day.” He walked over to a part of the wall, tapped it with his fingers glowing a brilliant blue, and the wall shimmered for a moment and then opened up in a rectangle. A chest slid out on its own and then the wooden  wall closed behind it. Thaedres walked over to the chest and lifted it open: inside was a sword, a long green blade engraved with vines and flowers and detailed with gold. The handle was wooden and wrapped in a band of dark gray cloth, the pommel was an ornate cluster of golden leaves, the hilt was slightly curved up and wrapped in emerald vines. The blade was straight, roughly four feet in length, and was as thick as a broadsword. He lifted it and felt a surge of energy flow through his body like warm wind, like this blade was always meant for him.

 

“This was my father's sword, Thaedres, he wanted me to save it for the Thuusain who most emulated him in combat. He was the best sword this world had ever seen. He fought Aviirosh is single combat, he slayed the Great White Worm in Jouagriem. Along with a dozen other achievements” Thaedren paused a moment as he admired the polished emerald colored blade, the gold runes, engravings and trimmings gleamed in the dense blue light of the inner chamber. “I have always known it would go to you, ever since you could walk you have proven you were the best possible warrior our blood could produce. I truly am sad I could not give this moment the ceremony it deserves but times are dire and the eve of battle is upon us.” Thaedres stood still as he held the sword firmly in his hand. He could not believe how light yet how obviously durable the masterworked blade was. Thaedren waved his hand and a stonework door appeared in the wood beside them.

 

“Thaedres go to the roost. I have already sent that foreign witch up there to meet you. You two will take Radrook and Softeye into the fight. We will need them; if my feelings are right, then we are about to face enemies the likes of which the Thuusains have never known.” Thoughts swelled up in Thaedres’s head like a storm, and he focused this mass of confused energy into a will to fight. He nodded to his father and half hugged him quickly, then ran up the ancient mossy stone stairs dully lit by small torches. He ran with newfound haste. Always he had felt like and known he was special know, all the history and legends leading him to the divine conclusion that he, Thaedres Arah San’Doral next in the ancient line of warriors, rulers, grand maguses and elder tamers, was here on this planet to do something important. He took the spiral stairs 3 at time as he flew; he had not been given a sheath or harness for his new sword, so held gripped it in his hand and held it firmly. He almost wished there was an enemy hidden away in this staircase just to feel what kind of wrath he could instill with this newfound charisma and fortitude. Not to mention that he hadn’t been able to see Radrook or Softeye, the sibling Flygon’s, pride of the forest skies. He loved how enthusiastic they were and how they learned things as well as any person he had known. He reached the roost fast and saw an inspiring sight: Clad in a new set of charcoal gray and emerald green armor was Hayleta, the only thing that could cloud Thaedres’s mind during an attack on his home. She looked fierce with her hair tied up and eyes shining a brighter green to match her new set of armor. She was fixing a saddle to Softeye, the younger sister of the two twin Flygons. She was given the name due to her kind gaze, many a soldier sat up in the roost and made long eye contact to heal the unseen wounds and scars of battle. She noticed him run up to the top stairs and smiled, the fire inside Thaedres burned ever brighter as he smiled back.

 

“Well well, look who decided to show up, and with a pretty new sword to match my new set of armor. We are gonna look like quite the pair riding into the fight on these two beauts.” Thaedres was happy to hear Hayleta appreciated how beautiful his two old friends were.

 

“Many, even here at Greenwood, are put off by their shapes and high pitched voices, that's why they stay all the way up here.” He paused awkwardly, trying to avoid her eye.

 

“Aye, we are quite a ways up, aren't we? I almost drained my water skin after reaching the top, my heart nearly beat out of my chest from climbing all these gods damned stairs.” Thaedres knew feelings of lust before a battle are common among young fighters like the two of them, but he also was conflicted. He never thought it would happen so easily. Before he could finish his thoughts, Hayleta approached him, she took him by his strong chin, and pointed his face right at her.

 

“Listen here, Elf, I have never known feelings like this and i think maybe neither have you.” He was shocked - how was this human so perceptive? Like she had some sort of sense or guidance into the working of his own mind. This troubled Thaedres and reminded him of an old saying his father used to tell him, the thought swirled around in his mind as he gripped his father's sword:  _ Be weary young one, when your mind is an open book you allow those smart enough to read it.  _ “ 

Thaedres looked her in the her deep emerald eyes quizzically. He saw nothing, their color was so deep that he was lost in thought, she was like nothing he had ever seen. She grabbed him by the waist and pulled him in close, they both were looking down as they slowly pushed their heads together at the forehead. 

Thaedres couldn't fight it anymore and he didn't want to. He leaned away and to look at her softly. They embraced with a passionate kiss, they grabbed and pulled at each other firmly and before he knew it she worked her tongue into his mouth. They pulled apart after a full three minutes of tender embrace, and he looked at her and began to humm gently.

 

“Just another thing to fight for, right, witch?” He pulled away, saddled up Radrook, and snagged a bow and quiver of arrows from a rack. He turned back to face the foreign beauty and spoke loudly while she herself mounted Softeye.

“I hope we both make it through the day Hayleta, you don't know the reason I'm such a confident, adept warrior. But I swear if we live through you will know me more than you would ever hope to.” Hayleta blushed fiercely and looked away, and Thaedres knew he spoke well and that she understood his meaning.

 

“I hope so, too, elf.” She kicked and the green dragon flew off towards the front of Greenwood. Thaedres followed closely behind, gripping his sword firmly in his hand. They flew fast towards the walls and arments of the barricade. As they flew, the silence of the forest was broken suddenly with a powerful blast. They arrived at the front moments after, as the battle begun. They arrived to the sight of wounded Tropius a thousand feet away from the wall, near a trap set up by the Thuusains, Liadra was fending off soldiers wearing black and crimson red armor. She was aided by a group of five Thuusains with spears and large round shields and the same groups of organized small grass Pokemon; summoning blooms and plants and casting stunning spells on the enemies and healing spells on the area surrounding Liadra while moving around the fight with incredible dexterity. To her right, another thousand feet away was Judgio and Bloodhand the Scizor, backed by at least fifty Thuusains fighting their way into the enemy line headed for an enemy mage. Another group of equal size fought beside them in the opposite direction lead by Captain Anaklees. This group was more focused around the contingent of archers in the center of their lines. Several more groups fought all around the surrounding land. The battle was focused near the main gate, but groups of enemy riders and infantry scattered the Thuusain forces out into the woods. 

Thaedres spotted Swiftfoot, Darkhand, Grayskull and Kazma running down these groups and dispatching them quickly, but causing them to be spread thin across the forest. Something was wrong about the scenario set in front of Thaedres,  he commanded Radrook to fly low, allowing him to leap off onto the soft forest floor behind a group of spearmen guiding a catapult. He caught the attention of the men and eight of them broke off from the group of engineers and barrels of stone and fire. Two of the spearmen lobbed their weapons and drew swords, and they charged at Thaedres as he swatted the two spears out of the air. He ducked under the first man's blow, and rolled to the right letting loose a knife from his belt hitting the second soldier in the chest. When Thaedres and the other soldier clashed swords, he was struck with awe as his new emerald colored sword cut clean through his enemies blade and into his chest. The man screamed in pain for a second before Thaedres pulled his sword out and beheaded him like cutting through a baked apple. He fought hard to slay the other seven but it with his new blade he tore them apart like a cat against a group of mice. He scanned the fight around him and was pleased to see Thuusains doing well all around. He knew without the aid of Pokemon in their army, the Galavadrens stood no chance against this ancient forest castle and its brave defenders. But he remembered the Aggron and the terrible destruction it had unleashed on a the forest around their original camp, they must have had more abominations in the other two forces which were each at least seven times the size of the first.

 

He wondered if they were being saved for a second wave, or if a group of soldiers were leading them around to a sneak attack. In his moments of contemplation he was left vulnerable, and he was stabbed in the back with a spear. It didn't puncture his armor, but it sent a fierce shock of pain up and down his spine. Thaedres fell onto the forest floor and rolled his body to the left as if it were on fire, his body was in pain and he felt rage swell up inside him. The spearman was clad in nicer armor than the rest of the enemy army, and he was backed by two huge swordsman with large greatswords. But before Thaedres could take his revenge on these “elites,” Anaklees rode by in a blur and put three arrows in each of his enemies’ necks in lighting-fast succession. He leapt off of his Arcanine and ran over to Thaedres. His Arcanine continued on into the fight, he tore and ripped, he leapt and bite, this enormous maned dog ate through the foot soldiers spread throughout the wastes.

 

“Thaedres, you’re needed at the fort. We found the majority of their forces marching, and in their lines were six more of those Aggrons all fused with cannons on their backs.”

“I was wondering when those things were gonna come into the fight. We both saw what that one did to the forest, I can only imagine what six of them could do. Even to the ancient and enchanted stone of Castle Greenwood.” Thaedres bore the determined expression of a wounded man as he spoke.

 

“I was sent by Uvara to round everyone I can up and take them to the west gate. I’m glad I got to you early, dear friend, and with a fancy new sword. Run fast and fight hard, young one, Uvara senses something,” Anaklees paused and looked as grim, as if he had just seen a horrible tragedy, “Something old. Thaedres, you better get to the fort with haste. If anyone is needed, it’s you.” He ran off and whistled for his loyal pet Arcanine, leaping onto its back and reading an arrow. Thaedres gripped his sword as he watched the beautiful captain move with incredible swiftness, he teared up and turned to run to at the wall.

He started to sprint as he was thinking about Anakalees, his old friend and famed warrior: he trained Thaedres ever since he could walk to become the best the Thuusain clan had ever seen. They all believed that they had succeeded, being only a twenty two year old adolescent elf he was already a better warrior than anyone else in the Thuusain clan. His duel with Judgio only two months ago proved that he was more than just a normal high born elf, his connection with the Pokemon in the great green wastes proved he could rival Liadra’s connection to the old and powerful creatures of this world. Thaedres was completely lost in thought as he ran through the edge of the forest, only twenty feet away from the walls of Greenwoods town, so lost in thought he didn't notice himself running straight into the side of a small group of saboteurs setting up explosives. 

 

They had three small red turtle pokemon, Torkoals. Thaedres luckily snapped back into the world as he approached the contingent of bombardier's and their small set up of barrels, boxes, and a small hand cart with three small harnesses attached bolted to the cart. Thaedres saw three thick, long, black lines of dark gritty sand. Thaedres was confused while running at his enemies; he didn't know what this dark black sand was or what they were going to do with it. Fifteen feet from his foe, Thaedres launched himself at the small man with two knives, Thaedres knew he was too small to threaten a deadly blow before Thaedres’ foot made contact. He felt a slashed against both his greaves and felt a small cut on each shin, but this was not enough to stop Thaedres’s kick, which broke the man's rib cage and then sent him flying into the trunk of an old pine tree, and needles rained down on the man's lifeless corpse. He recovered from his kick, rolling past the next man’s knife strike while swinging his large sword around with his nimble roll. He stood up from his attack to see the three Torkoal stumbling after him. Thaedres didn't want to kill the three little turtles, he had a love for all the Pokemon of the world, but also he knew he wouldn't let them do anything to him if they persisted. He also saw the third and fourth soldiers in this bombers’ crew charging at him, one with two knives and the other with a curved sword and a putrid-looking red and green spotted whip, obviously poisonous with its slight purple aura. 

He made a snap decision to just avoid the torkoal and take out the two enemies, then incapacitate them. To do this, he jumped and stepped on all of the turtles shells pushing them down, he landed lightly and fended off a flurry of attacks from the two soldiers. He fought hard but couldn't find an opening; the two men pushed him back farther while moving with a flow of attacks, and then he noticed the turtles reawaken from their daze. They created a dark black smoke screen all around them and began to steam hard out of their natural air vents. Thaedres finally found an opening in the smaller of the two enemies, the man with two knives, and he swung down, then to the side, then stabbed in the same pattern that he had been doing, but this time he had a mix up that he knew would work, from his stab his swung his sword up incredibly quick, leaving the man's chest exposed when his arms flung out to the sides from this motion. Thaedres took this opening to bring his sword down on the man's chest, cleaving him in two, but during the end of his swing he felt a sharp a searing pain in his exposed shin. He fell to the ground at the same time as the two halves of the once-knife-wielding man, the man with the whip lunged at Thaedres’ throat, sword drawn. Thaedres managed to roll backwoods seconds before the sword hit him, his shin burned with pain and it swelled up into a crescendo,  the most intense pain he thought anything anywhere would ever feel, then it stopped all at once just in time for Thaedres to roll again, avoiding a strike from the disturbing whip, but this time Thaedres bounced off of his hands, flipping backwards and then lobing his sword directly into the center of the man in crimson painted leather armor. His leg felt just like normal and this worried Thaedres, as slow acting poisons were always the worst of all, but he couldn't think about that now. He had to get to that wall and help out. 

Suddenly the cloud of dark black smoke exploded in a large bolt of fire, which shot directly at the line of black power near the wall, and the line caught fire and shot sparks flying across the line headed towards the pile of barrels and boxes up against the wall. The ball of fire from the explosion sent a shock wave out with such force that Thaedres was flung backwards a good fifteen feet. The wall and a large chunk of building were also sent flying in a destructive shower of thick stones, lodging into trees and creating large obstacles in the forest. Greenwood village was now exposed and the sound of the explosion caught the attention of the massive cluster of enemies lined up and marching towards the high walls of castle Greenwood.

They saw the opening in the wall and charged. Thaedres knew this was too many soldiers to fight himself, but he couldn't let them run around and cause havoc in the town. Luckily, riding in from behind the contingent of soldiers was Hayleta still on the back of Softeye followed by Anaklees and 3 other riders all on the back of Arcanines clad in several small pieces of armor fit for their massive bodies. They clashed with the group of soldiers in a brutal slaughter, the riders all loose arrows to take out four enemies quickly, then Hayleta let loose a shower of shimmering red arrows made of magical energy, killing the rest. But more and and more enemies ran at the destroyed section of wall. 

The group of Thuusains fought well as the seemingly never-ending swarm of red and black charged them down. Thaedres and Anaklees fought back to back and pushed their way back into the lines of their foes. The riders and the four great red hounds fought off enemies from the ruined edge of the wall while Hayleta created barriers and magical traps while blasting her foes back with powerful bolts and rays. The group fought hard but was ultimately pushed back into the edge of the city. Soldiers poured into the city, setting up barricades in nearby houses, and groupings of archers on the nearby walls and in a clock tower near the town center. Moments after the enemies ran into the town Judgio and the main block of the Thuusains charged into the fight from the forest, cutting off the line of enemies from the other side. The battle erupted into chaos as the hundreds of green-clad warriors sunk arrows, thrust spears, sliced their swords, and found any way they could to fend back their enemies.

But their efforts were seemingly becoming fruitless when the pile of enemies continued into the village. Ladders were set up as bowmen climbed and started to find several well-aimed marks into the lines of the legendary forest guardians. Slowly the battle was fought and bodies piled up in droves, creating horrid natural terrain and obstacles across the bloodied field of war. Thaedres parried and cut his way through any foes that faced him but definitely felt the pressure of a slow loss incoming. He saw the slewn bodies of the two Zeinien guardsman Belios and Vorn, Belios was strewn with arrows and Vorn was impaled with a now-broken Pike. A little behind them he saw one of the Kellevastiir sisters fighting brutally while her sister dragged herself across the ground with one arm. He scanned the battlefield in a worried haste for Hayleta, the foreign beauty he was so taken with, and with almost comedic timing he heard the high pitched scream of Softeye riding past and Hayleta letting loose a vicious magic barrage on the swarming red army. She rained crimson red sparkling death on as many of the Galavadren soldiers as she could, but magic took a great toll and her spells slowly began to get dimmer and less potent. Even with all of the incredible enchantments and spells upon the forest, Thaedres knew she couldn't keep up this slew of magic forever. He noticed Anaklees slowly getting more and more surrounded, but he couldn't let his old mentor fall in this fight - he charged in cutting down several foes along the way. He got to Anaklees's side and helped him fight his way back until the walls of the town. The Captain fought hard with his spear and sent many a foe to their grave but Thaedres started to feel very slightly weaker as he fought back. Thaedres felt blood splattering across his cheek after his sword cut another man open. 

They had been pushed back to the center of the Town square and fought next to an elven fountain carved from stone. The Galavadren were now spread all around the town and were quickly gaining ground. They lost heaps of soldiers on their way into the ancient home of the Thuusains, but clearly the Galavadren had room to spare. Screams echoed across the battle as men's bodies leaked blood into the soft green forest floor. Thaedres felt the eerie spell of dread from earlier but with an intense clarity that sent him to his knees. It seemed as all the Thuusains felt this and in their moment of weakness a half hundred Thuusains fell to arrows or slow aimed strikes: a bloodbath that lasted only a moment and a half. 

When Thaedres snapped out of his terror, he felt a volcano of fear erupt inside him and the chaos swelled up again. He fought hard, avoiding attacks and arrows, cutting through dozens of foes and picking up weapons from fallen soldiers to heave at their compatriots. But his efforts were futile compared to the relentless forces of the Galavadren; they were pushed and pushed until they gave up their efforts and sprinted towards the castle. Thaedres felt his feet flap the ground hard with each furious step, he felt the presence of death around him as the numbers of Thuusains reaching the fort thinned dramatically. But Thaedres knew that once they reached the sleepy grove they would be safe from attack for a little longer, maybe enough time to do something desperate and win this fight. The magic of the grove didn't affect him and the few hundred  or so remaining Thuusains and their Pokemon while thay ran, they all ran past the forest with great haste and sprinted down the open tunnel to safety. When they reached the throne room, Liadra and Judgio were already there along with fifteen of the elite guard Judgio commanded and dozens of Pokemon scattered around in droves.

Thaedren stood with Uvara on the spiral staircase of the great wooden tree in a heated discussion, their arms waved back and forth as they both gestured with enthusiasm. Thaedres ran over to see his father, he couldn't believe he called himself the greatest magus this world has ever seen. The warrior around him set up barricades pointed at the door as he was lost in thought - if he was such a great mage how did he allow this to happen? And what was that horrid sense of dread that he felt ever growing? And why was his strength seeming to steadily diminish? He needed answers and he would get them from who he always got his answers from: his father. He flew up the great work stairs and began to hear to familiar voices of these two ancient mages, one voice was smooth and even-sounding, very formal and almost dreamlike, the other was sharper and flowed between pitches and inflections like a horrible parade. He approached them in a moment of silence, just before Uvara exploded in a panicked sounding yell,

 

“But how could we not have known, Thaedren? With your hundreds of rides to all corners of the world, setting up your scrying orbs and hiring your hundreds of spies? You spent years on the road, away from our projects here, to make sure something of this caliber wouldn't happen.”

“How could we not know what?” Thaedres chimed in angrily.

“One of the legendarys is about to wake, Groudon lord of the earth and the most violent and angry of all of the ancient creatures.” All thoughts in Thaedres’s head ceased once he heard this terrible news. From what he had been taught or read of Groudon, he knew this to be the worst possible news he could hear. After a moment a loud thrum rang out from the east, seconds after the tail end of a massive shock wave reached the three of them here deep in the fortress. 

 

“Greenwood is doomed.” He said after a long silence.

“I'm afraid you may be right, young one, and we need to prepare for this contingent. Uvara, I need you to go to your chamber and gather up the artifacts, give them to Anaklees and tell him to run and hide our precious stones. Thaedres, I need you to find that witch from Zien and get her back to her home, the Zenien need to know we did not slay their emissaries, and more importantly they need to know of Groudon and his wake, and of Kuvosh siding with the Galavadren.” 

 

“Thaedren, that is all fine and good but it's not enough to stop that gian-

“I TOLD YOU!” Thaedren shouted loudly and his voice boomed all across the massive hall of Greenwood. “Nothing we have can stop that thing, when you locked yourself away in your chamber and sealed it with magic to hide from the Obliteration, you, like everyone else unaffected had your memories tampered with in some way. You don't remember the horrors of the last war and how big a part Groudon played in those battles, but, my dear Uvara, I remember those dark nights lit only by fire and the torrent of screams that howled across the entire country. This is what I've been trying to prevent, but someone knew something I didn't and found a way around my magic.” Thaedren’s calm expression began to waver and fade into panic. Thaedres had never seen his father so troubled by anything, he always knew him to be stoic and almost unemotional because he was so calm. 

Thaedres couldn’t decide what troubled him more: the state of fortification in this hall, the beautiful place in which Thaedres had countless good memories of feasts and celebrations or the fact that his father had finally broken and something so deadly, so powerful, and so threatening that his facade of permanent zen he was in finally broke, or the manic crazed expression and mood of Uvara, a being of more power than he or his father could ever hope to obtain in ten lifetimes, or perhaps the ancient legendary Pokemon of the earth Groudon, as the voices of Liadra and his father rung in his head, telling the old tales of its titanic power and its gargantuan size, of how it leveled cities and burned down acres upon acres of farm and road land. Or how their arrows and spears barley pierced its skin and how it seemed to absorb or ignore lesser magics from pokemon, elves, and humans. 

As he reached the front of the fortification he wondere how they could beat a thing like that, not to mention Kuvosh, the most aggressive of the Voshunds. Hope was now fully drained from Thaedres, his feet fell weak and his eyes began to sag, his grip on his sword loosened and it fell to the ground while his knees buckled and he fell onto his muscled chest, falling faint. Just after Thaedres passed out, the murmur and clutter was silenced by a deafening roar and the destructive sound of a titanic creature smashing through the stone wall of Fort Greenwood.


	4. Flame-Soaked Victory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akiva's chapter is also the same, gonna be weird to delete the one with the most views but

Lady Akiva Za’laia Grand Countess Of Galavadra

26th of Iath, 751 A.O.

Flame-soaked Victory

Fire. Blood soaked grass and stone lay in ruin. Screams both long and agonized and short grunts, coughs of blood. Lady Akiva walked through the ruin of the battle with her guards behind her and her loyal Pokemon beside her: a pair of Dodrio with forged steel helmets and sharp beak guards, a Metagross large and dark pale blue with a metal across its face in an X, and an enormous Aggron, almost twelve feet high with a fused magical cannon on its back and a specially forged iron mask to make him look as if he belonged behind the executioner's block with an axe in hand. Her black greaves and boots trampled the blood stained grass of the battlefield, but the ornate patterns of volcanoes and forgemen laced in gold were not stained. She walked tall and stuck her large chest out; she was six and half feet tall and beautiful, albeit in a terrifying way. She was young and had natural pale red eyes with long braided blonde hair that was tied with thin black iron bands. She bore no weapons, for her role in this battle was that of commander and facilitator. She walked with the pride of a lion as she scanned her surroundings and hummed a marching song she had always loved during her days as a footman. Several times she stopped at a dead body to closely examine the masterwork of these forest-dwelling folks’ armor: it was the best she had ever seen and the island nation of Galavadra was famous for their smiths. Or she would feel the master forged steel of the  _ Thuusains’s  _ weapons, each of which would have fetched twenty thousand gold coins on the marketplace of Vadgraal. 

She snapped her fingers twice and a small man carrying a scroll came running up to her. He bowed before speaking. 

“Lady Za’laia.” He had a whiny voice, but spoke respectfully to the mighty war chieftess.

Before she responded, the Aggron turned his head towards the man and grunted sharply, and the man jumped in fear at the sight of this metal giant.

“They have all retreated into the large fortress that surrounds that tree you spoke of earlier, my Grace.” He spoke with fear in his mouth and refused to meet her eye

“Good, all is going as planned, Adros. Round up a cluster of men for me and have them pillage and loot the battlefield for these exquisite arms, and let me know when you find their forge. I would much like to see it, as long as our new guest hasn't destroyed it yet. Next, I want you to find me my favorite room as far as the spoils of a fancy castle like this one: the food cellar. We will need to capture the damn thing first but with Groudon now awoken it will be no trouble, they, like all our other foes, will crumble under the iron foot of the Galavadren.” 

 

The small man ran off to go fulfill the countesses’ orders. She did nothing if not inspire fear in her subordinates. She gave similar orders to several other servants who came up to her while she walked through the bloodied field and they all went away quickly and talked to her with great respect. She decided to continue scanning the village of Green before getting to the siege front, curiously enough when she walked on she found a rotisserie still spinning while a leg of turkey on it, dark red and cooked a long time just as she loved her meat done. She found a jeweler’s cart undamaged and opened the lid to see inside the wooden case. She had to fight her jaw from hanging wide open upon sight of all these stones, marvelous colors ranging from red, to blue, to green, to yellow, to purple and pink, to onyx black and alabaster white, to perfectly clear and brilliantly multi-colored. This may be a nice find, but the finest of all spoils awaited her in the basement of castle Greenwood. 

 

She whistled loudly and a few of her men ran over to the cart and began to bag up the cut and uncut stones in organized bags. She continued on, searching through houses casually. In one house she came across a mother hidden in a closet with her baby. The lass and her babe didn't even have a chance to scream before she had her two Dodrio peck them to bits in a bloody flash. In another house, she found a set of gold arrows with clear crystal heads, and, curious if they were actual arrows or mere decoration, she threw one with all her might at the wall of the broken and abandoned house. The arrowhead remained in contact but the gold shaft was bent and broke from the throw. She quickly cut the heads from the shafts with her knife and bagged them up and kept them to herself. Still she searched the surrounding lands of the castle; she would not give up on finding it. Before Lady Akiva Za’laia set out on her long and glorious campaign, the ruined remains of Greenwood would be where her chapter in history began. 

 

After all, she studied for years about the Thuusains. The knowledge the Galavadren libraries had was scarce, but she persevered nevertheless. She learned of all tricks and the trades of the forest: the few allies the Thuusains had in the kingdoms, their alliance with many incredibly powerful Pokemon, the secret swamp that led to the back of Greenwood Castle. Needless to say, she couldn't have learned everything about the ancient forest-dwellers, but she learned enough to watch it burn. 

In her readings, she came across a hidden piece of knowledge in a scroll the was flattened in-between two pages of an incredibly dense and boring book. She was glad she was alone when she found this scroll, for it quickly became an object of her obsession after she found it. The scroll was written allegedly by an old retired sword of Greenwood, Sir Edgar Fanthorn, who was not a Thuusain but a mercenary whose company was taken in to help with some construction task. Most of the men died peacefully in Greenwood, not wanting to leave after finding the forest paradise, but the man who wrote this scroll did not. 

He was the lone man who left the forest to go back to his home, and he left a rich man and never had to want for anything ever again. He fixed up his house and bought his wife anything she desired. During his time in peace and old age, he wrote down much of his knowledge of the Thuusains, but this scroll was hidden away in a forgotten tome for a reason. Akiva knew that he had wanted someone special to to find his scroll and that was why he sold the knowledge to the Galavadren people centuries ago, but the tomes were clearly put away on shelf and forgotten about. 

But Akiva found them, and she found the hidden scroll that Fanthorn hid away; she read the scrawled handwriting of a man who wrote in a vigorous haste. It told of a key hidden away in a lockbox that some old man owned, and beside the lockbox was a notebook with notes of what the key might unlock. But this was why Akiva was so dead-set on finding this key: she knew what it went to. 

Her family owned a small island in Galavadra in which they had a massive estate that the family used for vacation and sanctuary, during one summer on the island when she was bored to death she went exploring the caves of the island, her father told her not too because of the Aaron and lairon that dwelled there. Akiva wasn't afraid of pokemon ever since she was a child she was not frightened or nervous around the strange creatures so so went to the caves anyway. Deep in the tunnels of one cave below the sea line, she found an ornate door with a lock on it. For twenty years after that, she tried to open the door. She brought smiths and locksmiths alike to try to get the door open but nothing ever worked. She had long given up when she was researching the Thuusains for her attack, but then she had read the parchment and seen the etching of the key. Lost in thought, she was unaware of the group of her men walking up to her as she searched the ruins and buildings. 

 

“Lady Za'laia?” The first man said, puzzled at what she was doing but staying a decent ways away. Her four Pokemon stood in front area of the once-beautiful house she was rummaging through, and as always, they stared daggers at her soldiers.

 

“Yes, what is it? Can't you see I'm looking for something?” she spat back angrily. She failed to make eye contact but still scared her subordinates. 

 

“We have the castle surrounded and the siege weapons are set up,  and we also have a full accounting of our gains and losses from this skirmish.”

 

“This wasn't a skirmish, Lee,” she sounded smugly satisfied yet annoyed while she pulled a dusty chest from beneath a heap of rubble. “This was a battle which I, our brilliant commander, set up like trap. A trap that caught these green-clad idiots like vermin. And that's what they are to me, Lee: vermin.”

 

She pulled the chest open, shattering the lock like glass; she looked very disappointed as she pulled a satchel of gold coins and small cut gems from the old chest. She tossed them down to the man without warning and then in one swift motion she leaped from the second story onto the ground as the already crumbling structure fell and crashed in a loud sound. The man fumbled to catch the bags, but Akiva thought that his fear of failure in front of her must have motivated him to catch them through his stumble. This made her smile as she went on to the other houses and she searched the dwellings for about a half an hour and found many hidden treasures but no black-and-gold key. After the serf loaded up the different treasures, he made quick motions and soft movements with his mouth while looking at the impressive new pile.

 

“Dear lord. Lady Za'laia, do you realize how much this small pile of looted treasure is worth?”, The man sounded almost agitated talking about the worth of her rewards.

 

“No. I have lesser beings like you and my other bookmen to know such things,” she snapped at him fiercely. She wasn't at all angry in fact she was feeling extremely happy and satisfied with her first victory on her path. She just liked to remind her servants and serfs that she was in command, she earned her throne and she planned to keep it. But this was no time to dwell on past victories, one doesn't think about past lovers while neck deep in another's thighs, this was only the first taste of her Greenwood feast.

 

“How much will it fetch, once all is sorted?” she asked while continuing to rummage through houses and shops for valuables.

 

“Just over a hundred and twelve million coin i’d say, my Lady. This is more than our farms and forges make in three years. This is truly a wondrous place.” She snapped her fierce gaze to the small man and locked eyes with him.

 

“This  _ wondrous  _ place that you seem to adore has fallen to the steel fist, just like the rest of meek will. I am tired of this passive world of the weak-willed. It's time for order and power to reign.”

She nodded to her Aggron and he unleashed a blast of energy from the cannon, destroying a large nearby tree, toppling it. The small man ran off quickly. Akiva liked doing this part of the plundering herself; she liked delving into the ruins and rubble for hidden valuables. It was like a game to her and she always won. She found a good two dozen more bags of gold and gems, several more high-forged swords and shields, large paintings and Jeweled goblets, but the most curious of all she found was a very dull knife in a sealed glass case, with faintly glowing and color changing inscriptions. This trinket would not go to the accountants. She would keep this on her until she found need of it; she knew that this world was ancient and full of secrets and Lady Akiva Za'laia Grand Countess of Galavadra was going to find them all. 

After she looted all of the houses and pulled all the valuables from them, an impressive lot if she did think so herself, she left to go to the castle, whistling to call her two Dodrio to her and then snapping twice and summoning several servants to fetch her chariot. She latched her chariot to her birds and rode off for the castle at a slower pace to accommodate her other two Pokemon. 

They reached the park leading up on the castle;it was ablaze in a bright, dancing flame but a path through the flames remained for her royal presence. Her subjects always had to accommodate for her, for she ruled with a steel fist for all to feel. She rode through the fire and felt the warmth against her skin. She felt another fire, a fire that raged inside her as she saw the battlements and siege engines of her beloved army. She saw her loyal commanding officers standing still and waiting for her, dressed in their finest wares just like they always were when they knew she was coming to see them. She whipped the reins hurdling them forward for the last hundred feet.  Her chariot slid to an aggressive stop, and the forged wheels of rod iron and banded steel tore through the forest floor, leaving behind a clear trail. She casually stepped off her chariot and eyeballed her group of loyal little lemmings. She slowly pulled her mask off and gave them all a deadly stare. They bowed quickly, but in perfect synchronization.

 

“Greetings, Your Grace,” the first man said, looking slightly less scared than the other three. He seemed the most battleworn of the leaders. Fresh blood stains tattered his ornate crimson-and-black armor trimmed with gold; he held his longsword in his hand and it had the unmistakable sign of blood having been recently wiped off. She was proud to see her grandmaster at arms, Gendren, with the clear badges of battle.

“Greetings, Lord Gendren, how goes the pillage efforts or,” she scoffed with great force, “Or the rest of the pillaging.” Her mirth continued for a beat and no one dared interrupt her. After her almost-crazed soft laughter ceased, the man spoke impishly.

“My lady-

He was cut off by her sharp and deadly stare.

“I'm your Grace, Gendren. You may be our fiercest sword but I am still your Grand Countess, and you will treat me with respect. You’re a fighter and you’re good at it, but you will never rise above the mediocrity of battle into the blood-curdling, fiercely-self-fulling role of command. And you may be good, but you will never be better than me.” She continued her menacing stare at the man in crimson red armor.

He bowed lower before a long pause, then said, “Your Grace. Everything has gone according to your plans, the walls fell quickly from our saboteur squads, the Young Elf was weakened by the poison and impacted nearly nothing in the fight, Thaedren the Green Arcanus was slain, his mind torn asunder by your newly appointed sorcerers and his son, the Young Elf, was captured during our first few raids of the castle, many men died to retrieve the Young elf but we got him.” A vicious smile crept across Akiva's beautifully strong and fierce southern face. The mighty Thaedren, The Green Arcanus, keeper of the Verdant Wastes and champion of magic in all the realm, brought down by a simple black tome she had found in the basement of the Old Iron in Gradeaos. And his son, the Young Elf, ever since she had sent her scouts into the forest she had been hearing reports of a young boy elf who ran like lighting in the wind and swung his sword with the swiftness and strength of a seasoned master warrior, but now he was like any other prisoner: weak and ready to break.

“What of the Foreigners, the reason we had to push our attack up half a year?” Akiva said, sounding fierce.

“We have all of them slain and accounted for, except for the witch. We saw her ride of on an arcanine with that bastard Anaklees. They were followed by several Pokemon your grace. A Blaziken, a Sceptile, a Gengar, a Marowak, a Venusaur with several spell casters riding on its back, an enormous Jolteon nearly three times the size of the ones in our keeps, a Scizor, a Flygon, a Zangoose, and a Swampert. They all walked with them as if they were knights or..or...or Leaders?” The young man began to become manic and a little panicky.

 

“Yes, yes, I've done my readings, Gendren. The Thuusains are friends and allies of the beasts of the world. What of it?”

 

“Nothing, my lady, it's just disgusting how they allow those beasts to walk among them. Besides that small group of escapees, all the Thuusains have been killed or captured,” he said while regaining his composure and fixing his slicked-back hair.

 

“And what of Uvara, what of the queen cunt of the forest, where is that little flying bitch?” Hatred flowed inside her like a burning fire. Never had she met the forest witch but she hated her what what Akiva had learned in the basement of the Old Iron. No one had the right to meddle in the matters of the world like Uvara had done, no one had the right to tamper with fate like that.

 

“She locked herself away in a chamber of that enormous fucking tree. Our men have been hacking at it for hours now, not able to make even the slightest dent.” Akiva started to laugh heartily, strong and fierce. Her voice rang across the slowly burning corpse of the once-powerful Fort Greenwood.

 

“Nothing can destroy the Uvaka tree, see how much of a cunt she is? She named the thing after herself. You have to kill enough of the forest in order to kill the Uvaka, but we couldn't start doing that until Greenwood was no more. So here we are, standing in the forest that is  **_not_ ** being cut down,” her voice grew louder and angrier in a hot flash, “What else did you morons think we were doing in the Wastes? Picking flowers? We are here to claim this land boys. So claim it.” 

She turned off and started to walk to her chariot before her inferiors bowed and hurried off to go shout orders at people. Akiva jumped from the platform where the meeting took place onto her chariot in a powerful bound. 

 

“I'm going to speak with Kuvosh. Come to me with a report when the efforts of the forest clearing have begun.” The three people she spoke to all snapped their heads to listen the moment she spoke. Like broken dogs they obeyed her every order. This filled her with more furious confidence as her chariot slowly rode off in pace with the large stone creature, Metagross, gaining speed as she went.

 

Her chariot sped through the great tunnel, into the keep of Greenwood. She expected to see her men rummaging and pillaging through the fort with captives tied up. What she didn't expect to see was a front line made of crates and sandbags with arrows flying back and forth, or Kuvosh in a duel with an old white-bearded man. 

His sword clashed with the old man's bow staff in fiery bursts. How the bow staff didn’t crack under the pressure of heat and the strength of Kuvosh’s swings, Akiva did not understand. Akiva also did not expect to see dozens of her men being slaughtered while attacking the Elf Mother, Liadra, dying to the smallest green Pokemon she had ever seen, tiny flower-clad reptiles, and seedlings. She knew this last chance for her master-at-arms would prove nothing. These men fought like bandits, savages who throw flail their limbs and swing their swords like clubs. As it was Lord Yalsword’s last chance, she would have to think of a way to end the pompous little pricks life. Maybe she’d flay him and leave him out in the sun to burn - these were thoughts for a less dire time. Taking the rest of this keep would be nothing to her, just like taking all of Greenwood and soon taking the whole world. First she needed to take this fucking elf bitch out. 

She whistled for the nearest soldier to come over, told him to get Lord Gendren and his men to get their asses here in five minutes. They would be whipped through the streets when they got back. The soldier ran off with incredible haste and Akiva turned her attention to the front

Pushed-over tables made up the wall of the Thuusains’ front and crates and fallen carts made up the front of her men’s line. She hated when conflicts stood still like this, one force outnumbered but with the better position and with superior arms and the other force shoved into a small space, waiting to be slaughtered like sheep. She knew this display of locked horns and she knew how they ended, with the sheep butchered after a long slow fight in an unknown meadow. Yet still she knew what to do about it, for she had been the shepherd in a battle like this and was severely overrun by the sheep. 

“We thought we had them, trapped in their pen and ready to have their throats cut. But just before we could…” her thoughts trailed off. She grabbed a great two headed steel axe off of a nearby dead body and ran towards the closest commander. 

 

When she was noticed by the man in finner armor, and then all the footmen, he dropped to his knee and said, “Your grace.” This made her scoff; she hated formalities in times of battle, yet everyone always insisted on bowing and kneeling and calling her “your grace.” Sure, it was what she commanded out of battle, but right now it was just damned irritating.

 

“I know I’m the fucking countess, stand up, moron. Tell me how this happened, now. How did the five hundred men I sent in here get reduced to this rabble of blithering shrieking idiots?!” she snapped at the man viciously and slapped him across the face with the back of her hand after her last word fell. The man cried out and fell back.

 

“Your Grace, I'm sorry, but before the lady of the forest escaped, she blessed them with some sort of magic. The remainder of the Thuusains with this blessing fight with more willpower than I've ever seen,” the man said while cowering from more of Akiva’s grand wrath. She knew the man was afraid. Akiva could swing her hands fast and strong and she was familiar with people being afraid of her.

 

“Go get more reinforcements from the pillaging and deforestation efforts. We need this keep.” The man paused, clearly waiting for her to say something else. But she just jerked her hand up in a feint, causing the little man to run off through the tunnel. She then gave a silent order to her Metagross to get the attention of the Aethermanced Aggrons and use them to take down that elf and her squads of Pokemon. The beast turned and started to move before his eyes glowed a brilliant bright pink. Akiva turned her attention towards the front of arrows being shot between the two forces, and found the commander of the archers calling out targets and snapping at arrow boys to run out of the battlements to grab more arrows. She grabbed the man's attention with a loud stomped boot not two inches from his own foot. He jumped and turned his head in a start.

 

“Your Grace,” she rolled her eyes at the formality, “we are pinned down, they have the superior archers and bows. Not to mention these arrows we keep picking up. They are the work of true masters, real artisan quality arrows. Only the strongest of us could snap one of them.” The man was worried and anxious and he continued to snap orders at his archers. He occasionally poked his head out from the barricade to view the battle but had to quickly pull away to avoid arrows.

 

“Where are all of my mages? We could break this in twenty fucking seconds if I had my spell weavers here. I need some better archers and some better men, and better trainers. This army is a bunch of untrained boys.” The ranged commander looked taken aback. He then took a few moments to scan over his group of archers and he did happen to notice several grimaces with the unmistakable sign of missed shots, which forced his own grimace.

 

“My Grace now is not th-

The look on Akiva’s face was beyond angry or cruel, she glared at the man so viciously he physically jumped back. She looked like she was going to erupt in anger, but instead she closed her eyes and began to breathe deeply. She raised her axe and cut the man clean in half with one fell swing.

“How dare someone speak to their countess in this manner,” she spat on the man’s bleeding corpse, and stomped her feet to get the attention of the archers behind the wall

“Aim too, you little shits!” she shouted, the archers hands started to do their individual actions at a new speed. Their arrows finally started to find marks and kill several of the Thuusains, but her numbers were still thinning faster than her forest-dwelling foes’. She stamped the pole of her axe on the ground and called for a guard, they rushed to her side and formed up a column of soldiers around her. She snatched a shield from one of them and began to shout, as the thirty or so men and women shuffled around to form ranks and draw weapons.

“Listen up you ruddy little shits, I’m making it to their side, or all of you die right here and now. You wanna die right here?”

“NO SIR!” all the soldiers shouted in unison.

“Then we march forward now for the Old Iron and for Galavadra!” The column of Gavaldren with a beautiful, tall, brutal warrior queen in the center charged through the gap of the battlements. Many arrows found the hearts, necks, and foreheads of the warriors in the front lines but several spears and thrown axes found their own necks and heads behind the Thuusains makeshift wall. When Akiva and her remaining ten soldiers vaulted over their wall of pushed over tables they were met with a strong resistance of warriors clad in emerald and charcoal gray armor. Each one of them fought with the strength and will of ten of her own soldiers so Akiva was quickly standing alone facing five men all with longswords drawn at her. She leapt backwards a ways while whistling loudly ordering for reinforcements, and heard the footsteps of the boots of her men coming to get her. Although she was not afraid of the five knights before her, she didn't get to her position by just being stronger and smarter than everyone she ever met, but also by being better at fighting and knowing how to read a man before he knows he’s left his book open. 

 

The Thuusain on her far right lunged a great distance at her neck with sword drawn. She saw this coming from the look in his eye a moment before he jumped. Ducking to the left premptively, she swung her axe upward and nearly cut the man in two. She quickly recovered from her kill as two more strikes were swung at her neck and an arrow was shot and nearly found its mark in her thigh. 

Akiva decided to show off a little physical prowess in case any of these forest-dwelling pricks were worth their salt. She jumped high in the air, flipping over the sword strikes and bringing her axe down on one of the men’s heads on the way down and swifty striking the other man in the neck with her palm. Both men fell to the ground like burlap sacks ripped open and dumped onto the chopping board. Akiva grabbed one of their longswords and held it in her off hand, turning to the two remaining warriors. 

She was forced into a small retreat while battling the two other fighters but not before long she knew what the man on the left was going to do for his next three actions. He was going to thrust and then slash from the upper right then step in with his left shoulder and then swing with all his strength from above, and so he did and so her stab was placed right at the moment of weakness when the emerald-clad warrior lifted his blade above his head. The other soldier went into a brutal frenzy but this was even easier to deal with, despite the mans truly impressive strength and speed. She clashed with her opponent's swing with both her axe and the dead man's sword then she shoved all her might forward in an instep knocking the man down on his ass leaving him open for his skull to be split open like a block of wood. Knowing this was the moment a normal “great warrior” would be killed with an arrow in  the neck, like so many Galvadren tales had ended, she literally fell to the ground to move her massive chest out of the way of an arrow that whizzed by and sunk into the ground. She spun while standing up to add momentum to her throw, sending the dead man’s sword at her would-be-killer with a mighty heave and drove it through his chest. As Akiva cleaned the blood of her axe with a cloth pulled from her belt, her soldiers made it over the wall to join her. 

She felt their surge of confidence seeing their Countess surrounded by five dead Thuusains without suffering a wound. They quickly formed up and charged at the elven archers as they turned their attention to the men who crossed over their wall. Several men fell as they took on the archers and warriors of the Thuusains, but her men fought with new-found spirit and started to take foes and take ground. She knew it was because of her own prowess, but she couldn’t build herself up too much - this fight wasn’t over yet. 

An archer nocked an arrow and aimed at Akiva, but she noticed him and picked up nearby shield to defend herself. She ran towards the man and put the round shield up, blocking the few incoming arrowa. The shield was flung at the man's neck horizontally, spinning fast when it hit its mark. He fell from his perch hard and broke his neck on impact. The Galevadren slowly killed all the remaining Thuusains with a decent struggle, with Akiva fighting hard at the front to take this keep. The men and women of the galavadren army who fought near her fought all the harder and more viciously. Brutal. Savage. Relentless, she fought like a starving beast with a masters training and a titan's strength.

Akiva loved battle, she loved seeing her axe reddened with the blood of her enemies, she loved knowing what would happen before it did and then punishing her enemy for it. A loud roar of pain broke after most of the fighting had ended for Akiva's forces, every neck snapped to turn and see what made the noise. 

And every face alive in that ancient wooden keep saw the same glorious sight of Kuvosh standing tall with his huge fiery sword plunged into the chest of Judgio, the master of arms for the Thuusains. Akiva had read of the old man's accomplishments and achievements and knew him to be one of history's greatest men, yet even he had fallen to her great plan and her new ally, the mighty Kuvosh. The great fire warrior bellowed in rage and roared fire up into the air in a grand display of power. He grabbed the old gray man's bow staff and raised it in the air and began to shout in the loudest booming voice Akiva had ever heard, it was like the sound of thousand fires all roaring at once.

 

“Uvara! I have slain your army and beat your champion Judgio, your keep burns and your villages is in ruin. Thaedren your  **_Grand magus_ ** has been butchered like the rest of you puny tree-loving welts. Groudon had awoken and it will not be long until we free Gurin’vel from his prison here in Greenwood’s Great Uvaka tree, and when we are through here in the Verdant Wastes we will make our way through the rest of the world. The god of wrath Idarr has willed a new age, the time of the Obliteration has come to an end and a new age of fire will soon begin! Now it is time, come out of your tree and face me, face the doom of your forest.” 

Everyone and everything stood still in pure silence, the truest form of silence - the silence of anticipation. Nothing broke the silence for minutes except the slow flame of Kuvosh’s sword, and the Galavadren swapped anxious looks between each other, but Akiva didn’t join in. She only stared at the tree with malicious fury. Uvara did not appear and after ten more minutes of silence Kuvosh turned and walked to Akiva.

 

“Countess,” he spoke evenly and with respect despite the fact that he was a being of far superior power. For now.

 

“Yes Lord Kuvosh?” She used the formalities she hated with this man because she knew he was the linchpin in her plan. Without several major flaws would soon present themselves. She would allow nothing to stop her plan now.

 

“Why is nothing happening? Where is Uvara? We have done everything you said to do and the green witch still will not face me!” he started to shout and the ever-burning fire around him grew stronger.

 

“Kuvosh, I’m being true to myself and to you when I say I do not know. From all I've read of this place and of her magic, I thought all that we've done would draw her out for a final confrontation, my Lord.” 

 

“Gahh,” he grunted loudly and spat on the ground, “Little green tree-fucking coward!” the fire around Kuvosh swirled higher and hotter, forcing Akiva to step back.

 

“I agree, Lord of Flame, she is nothing compared to you. But what of it? Our army has won and Greenwood has fallen. Groudon has destroyed all of their buildings and walls and my men begin the efforts of destroying this forest as we speak. The Thuusains are no more,” Akiva said triumphantly, staring into the deep red eyes of the demigod. The red man in a dark kimono paused and scratched his chin slowly, his fire dimming around him as he took several deep breaths, exhaling smoke and steam. The man of living fire continued to breathe deeply, eyes closed and sword against his chest. The Galavadren men all around them cleaned up the stragglers and survivors then began to raid the grand fortress.

 

“Akiva, this is not why we came here. Our purpose in the Wastes was to relearn the knowledge lost in the Obliteration. Entei and all of our other allies are lost beyond time and beyond our reach without the information kept here, where Groudon was buried in the earth. What are we to do with Uvara hiding away in a fucking tree?!” his voice grew louder and his flame grew hotter as his words ended. Akiva knew to tread carefully. The subject of his legendary partner was touchy to say to least. But she had an answer to this problem like she has an answer to every problem, for she was Akiva Za’laia, chosen by fire to conquer to world.

 

“Dear Lord Kuvosh, you needn’t worry about a thing. My mages have prepared for that exact contingent. We know about the mysteries of her sacred  **_Uvaka_ ** tree. She thinks her brand of magic to be the most powerful just because it's the oldest. It’s true the ancient art of nature magic is powerful in its own right, but we are the sons and daughters of the wrath and our magic burns hot and bright. We will find our way into this tree and we will soon know all the secrets we so desperately desire.”

 

“Fire is not desperate, Akiva.”

 

“No, dear Lord, it is not. However, protecting our spell weavers during their practice and study on the tree is more than crucial. Kuvosh, I need you to stay here in this god-forsaken forest and protect my mages.” This forced a grimace across Kuvosh’s face, and troubled feelings crept their way up into Akiva’s forethought but quickly she fought them back with her signature mental surge of confidence. She knew exactly how to make the fire lord bend to her will. Fire might not be desperate, no, but it does require fuel, and in Kuvoshs’ case the fuel was his deep-abiding connection with Entei the fire hound.

 

“Kuvosh, you know I am the only way you are going to see Entei again. The way to do this is to protect my mages and let them unlock the puzzle that is the Uvaka tree. We are going to need someone strong enough to face her, anyways, in case she comes out of hiding to ambush us. She has more control over this enormous fucking tree than we know. Be on lookout and make sure we have eyes and ears on it at all times.” Kuvosh’s grimace faded into mere apathy as he sheathed his mighty curved blade and began to burn the palace slowly as he walked. Akiva knew there would be no more words about it. When she convinced Kuvosh to join her nearly two years ago, he had pledged loyalty under the name of Idarr and this was more binding than all the known magics of the world. She thought to herself, “ _ Will I ever understand this red skinned deity and his fierce capacity for emotion? Being the most temperamental of the three Voshunds, maybe I won't ever know. Luckily, if all goes to plan, I'll be dealing with Aviirosh soon. Now let's go see about this old ground beast, he oughta be done destroying this place by know. _ ”

 

Akiva walked over to her chariot and she jumped aboard, riding for a beat before stopping and seeing the dead bodies of dozens of small green pokemon. Her Metagross was standing over the corpses of ten of the Aetherfused Aggrons. Liadra’s body was nowhere to be found and neither was her Tropius, and, from the looks of it, almost as many young grasslings escaped as died to her most trusted ally, Metagross. 

She loved the beast more than she was willing to admit to anyone she wasn't about to kill. It was a deep-abiding love that could only be explained by the fact that they had both known each other their entire lives. She had received the small floating rock creature with the one glowing red eye when she was still shy of two weeks old. She and her Beldum were the best of friends and their connection is was Akiva believed to be what lead them both to become so much more extraordinary than they should be. When she was old enough to give her beldum a name she was already becoming smarter and stronger than all of the millions of children in Galavadra, so Akiva wanted to name her already best friend something equally strong. So she did, the name Titan fit her 4 legged metal psychic beast of a companion. It was disappointing to see that her beloved friend couldn’t defeat or capture the elf mother but it wasn't surprising nor was she angry with her old friend. She knew Liadra to be more than formidable, but she and her band of grass pokemon didn't worry Akiva in the slightest. They would run off to a distant corner of the forest but sooner or later they would be found. Even if she had to burn every acre and slaughter every creature, she would find the forest mother and bring her to justice - a nice beheading or maybe Akiva would beat her to death with the neck of her beloved Tropius.

Thoughts like these were best saved for later as she had to check of the progress of the burning she ordered . Akiva sent a mental signal to her friend Titan and told him to head towards the fires, and the large gray stone creature ran off with his four legs causing tremors in the ground around him. She then snapped the reigns of her chariot for her Dodrio to run in the same direction,

“Agility!” she roared, brandishing her axe triumphantly in the air.

Metagross and the two Dodrio almost doubled in speed as the four of them sped out of the tunnel into the now burning forest. Akiva had no reason to brandish her weapon or to give orders commandingly at this point, but her place was on the battlefield and no one in her army was even going to mention her lust for the fray. Being a sharp and fierce leader required confidence and complete undeniable sense of self worth, and Akiva grew up with this knowledge in mind and used it to rise to the peak of Galavadren command. 

The thought of the previous leaders of the iron coast almost made Akiva physically ill - those soft, weak, fat men feeding off of the hard work of their citizens while becoming vastly over wealthy from their trade routes and seemingly endless iron mines. 

  
  


_ Suddenly Akiva was a child again, she went to the Silver Sky Festival and decided to roam to fair grounds alone as she had done for the past six years. She walked past the familiar sights of fire eaters and sword jugglers, past the same stands of jewelry and precious stones, past the hundreds and hundreds of food stands and large fire pits with slow turing meats and roasted vegetable being sold and consumed in droves. Akiva walked by the masses in disgust, fuming looking at the sheep whose faces were alight with joy as they passed as much humor as food around. She never questioned why she hated the unambitious and the slothful but she later thought that was her first true motivation for conquest.  _

_ Walking past the crowd of the festival, young Akiva found herself heading towards the outer reaches of the park in which the festival was being held in. The loud sound of a slap in the distance drew her to a gazebo near a pond shimmering in the soft moonlight. She softened her footfall as she heard the sounds of grunts and moans. Peering through a bush with cat-like movements, Akiva saw the horrible sight of 3 members of the Iron Union taking advantage of a very young girl in torn clothing who was clearly sobbing underneath her gag. Akiva watched this happen for a moment, not quite sure why 3 of the kings of the Iron Coast would be doing this. She looked at their greedy swollen faces smiling and laughing as they grabbed and penetrated this young women with their fat fingers and small pig-like cocks. Akiva was stunned while witnessing this atrocity. She thought of the girl who was being used like an animal by these pompous fat shits, she thought of the pain the girl was going through and what horrible thoughts she would feel for years to come after this night was done. _

_ Fury filled young Akiva as she broke out of her stunned gaze, she scanned around for anything to use while still remaining unseen and unheard. She found a thick branch that had been snapped off and sitting on the ground for a long while as it was covered in moss, then crept closer, gritting her teeth. The three fat old men were to busy with their abuse to notice Akiva approach with her club in hand, her grip tightened when she was close enough to raise it above the closest man’s head and bring it down with a powerful swing. She cracked the man's head open as the two remaining kings screamed and the tied-up girl fell to the floor. Akiva leapt over the gazebo wall and jabbed the closer one three times in the stomach before bashing in his skull with an equally powerful strike. The third king ran for his knife while this happened and stood his ground against the twelve-year-old Akiva covered in blood splatters. But, being old and fat and never being in a second of conflict his entire life left the man unable to stop the running jumping overhead slam of Akiva. When she untied and helped up the girl she took off the blindfold and gag slowly, the girl was quite a bit older than Akiva but about the same height. She wouldn't stop sobbing and wailing but Akiva just held her tight and said softly, “They’re dead now, I won't let them hurt you again.” _

_ Akiva was not the nicest person or even close to the softest, but after seeing what these pieces of filth did to this helpless young girl, she knew that a soft hand would help her get through that horrific night.  _

_ Akiva felt a surge of furious self righteousness like she had never felt before. She had just killed three men - three kings - and she knew it was the right thing to do. She cared for and watched over the girl for a long time that night and when the girl was able to make it home, Akiva was left feeling as if she had just won a battle. As she walked away from the girl’s home, she was tapped on the shoulder, and when she turned around she saw that the same girl from earlier had run down the street after her. Akiva was about to speak when the girl plunged her face towards Akiva, meeting at the lips.  _

_ They kissed for a while and then began to grip and touch each other tenderly. The girl lead Akiva back to her home which was empty due to the festival. That night the two young girls engaged in passionate love, Akiva knew that saving the girl affected her brain, maybe it affected Akiva as well. They explored every inch of their soft bodies, gripping, rubbing, kissing, and caressing they cared for one another and swam in a sea of wet and smooth pleasure. Akiva spent many a night like that since then with dozens of other people but nothing ever gave her pleasure like her own power. From that moment on, Akiva never once questioned her gut feelings or her instincts and that lead her to become the first grand countess of all of Galavadra.  _

 

‘She snapped out of this small flashback as the same surge of furious self-righteousness started to find its way to her stomach to give her a warm familiar feeling that only came about when she is immensely aroused. Being one of the few children in Galvadra born as both male and female reproductively, her arousal was much more intense than that of a normal person and when the healers examined baby Akiva they told her father that she was born the soul of the old flame. All of this lead to arousal with such pull and force it may as well have a mind of its own.

Akiva thought about how she would like to satisfy this urge. Taking a prisoner of war would be fitting, but she never enjoyed a one sided tangle of limbs. It was barbaric and didn't feel the same. Once her army was fully liberated from these weak pissant men she would outlaw the act during war, but these thoughts were best saved for later as she needed to free the two rampaging beasts inside her. Akiva’s chariot sped fast into the now-Galvadren-controlled forest, fires burned in controlled sections around her, supervised by Aggrons, mages and Torkoals all around her, the distant sound of trees being sawed and chopped down is the distance was speckled with loud thuds of these great trees falling to the ground. She pulled on her reigns softly, bringing her two Dodrio to a halt. She hopped off the cart and snapped loudly, calling a nearby soldier to her side.

 

“Yes ma’am?” he asked as he approached.

 

“Tend to my Dodrio and my chariot, and once you've finished I want you to assemble a crew to bring me a fresh tent and prepare a small victory feast in this exact spot,” she barked harshly, digging her heel into the dirt. “I want you to set up a large bedroll fit for three or four guests with me. I wish I enjoy my victory my way. Now, if you'll excuse me, I’m going to find some guests. My tent and feast better be here when I’m back or your head will leave your shoulders so fast your torso won’t realise it’s gone.” she snapped and brandished her axe, causing the man to scurry off like a little rat.

 

Akiva then turned to her beloved friend Titan and smiled, starting to silently communicate her thoughts and feelings to her companion, letting him know she was about to venture into leisure and he should be her eyes and ears while she was indisposed. She then tossed her axe over her shoulder, lodging it into a tree as she walked past her Dodrio, giving it a firm scratch on the head. Her stride went from that of a fierce and powerful warrior to one of an experienced temptress. Her hips began to swing back and forth seductively when she started to undo the metal bands holding her long braid in place. Her long graceful strides started to capture the attention of many of the surrounding soldiers, and the further she walked into the once beautiful town of Greenwood, the more eyes snapped to the terrible but beautiful woman. 

When she stopped walking at what seemed to be the epicenter of Galavadren soldier activity, she grabbed the last band holding her hair in place, tore it off and flung her head back, unleashing a glorious wave of bright blonde wavy hair. Jaws dropped and all movement ceased, her men had never seen what she truly looked like in full glory. Normally sporting her Aron mask and keeping her hair in strictly military braids and holds, she didn't flaunt her natural good looks, but, following her instincts as she always had, she decided now was the time to reveal that she was not only an amazing warrior and brilliant commander but also Galavadra’s most beautiful woman. 

She took this moment of silence and awe struck gazes to survey her followers; finding a suitable match for her night of earned pleasure was of great importance to her. This was all a ritual to Akiva, the long tedious planning and research before a fight, the battle itself and the glory and winning every engagement she had ever come across, the same surge of glorious self-righteousness, and the sweet satisfaction of ending the night with pleasure and passion. 

Scanning the crowd of men almost a full foot shorter than her, she was beginning to get upset. These men were short, small, cowardly, and weak - the tallest among them must have been just under six feet tall. None of them would do. This was a victory for the history books and her night needed to reflect the quality of the start to her brutal conquest. 

 

“Maybe we have a prisoner or two that will want to earn some favor with their new countess,” Akiva thought to herself, not letting the quality of Galavadren men ruin the torrent of the raging beasts inside her.

 

“You there!” Akiva shouted, forcing the small man she pointed at to jump before running to her side. Everyone still had their eyes on her.

 

“Y-yes ma’am?” the man stutterd impishly.

 

“Show me to the prisoners, and then I want all of my male soldiers to start doing sprints and laps in armor. You're all a bunch of scrawny fucking rats, it’s time to turn you lot into wolves.” 

 

The man nodded and began to lead Akiva to the east, clearly too embarrassed or awestruck to reply. All around commanders started to shout orders to the masses and they all began working twice as hard, many of them returning to a tent or rack, forced to put their chain and plate armor back on. Akiva followed the small man who had to walk with great haste to stay several steps in front of his beautiful ruler. 

She began to notice the man’s backside. It was tight and round, small but in a cute way that made Akiva want to grit her teeth. She decided when she found her mates for the evening she would take this young man into the tent and break him like a wild stallion. They walked past several extremely large tree stumps and dozens of smaller bushes before reaching a large contingent of tents and wrought iron cages set up in two rings with tents surrounding the cages. All the soldiers posted to guard the prisoners bowed as Akiva walked past paying no mind to them.  When she arrived in front of the large cages she started to stare at the prisoners. The first one on the cage to the farthest left was a tall elven warrior with beautiful mahogany skin colored skin, deep wooden brown hair, and bright purple eyes. Akiva could tell she was a warrior from her broad shoulders and thick thigh muscles. The second was a much shorter woman with bright blonde hair and frosty blue eyes, she had a kind face and very ample breasts. The last cage had the only man of the three. He was handsome and chiseled with a strong chin and dark green eyes. His hair was dark auburn red and fell down over his ears with short curls. The rumors of the humans born in the Thuusains forest sanctuary was true: they were all beautiful. The taller woman and the man in their cages scowled fiercely at Akiva, but the smaller blonde woman didn’t meet her eye.

 

“Hello prisoners, I am your new ruler, Akiva Za’laia, Grand Countess of Galavadra. I am here to give you three options, go to work in the Galavadren iron mines as slaves, join me in my tent for the evening and service me as I please, or die here and now like vermin. These are your only options, my dear forest-dwelling friends, and might I suggest the second? If you perform your duties well, you might land yourself a more comfortable position in a palace or castle along the Iron coast.” 

 

Silence fell while the prisoners looked back forth to each other with worried expressions, Akiva’s face held firm in an expressionless stone wall of power. Minutes passed while they mulled over their three options in captivity. 

 

The small blonde woman spoke before the other two. “Will you be kind to us if we go with you?” she said sheepishly, not ever fully meeting Akiva’s fiery gaze. Akiva chuckled softly while walking towards the middle cage where she sat on her knees. Her face was so close to the bars she could kiss the iron to intimidate her young blonde guest.

 

“My dear girl,” she reached into the cage and gently stroked the girl’s face, “I will be more kind to the three of you than I am to most of my men, for the three of you are far more beautiful than anyone I have seen before. Well, other than myself.”

 

The three prisoners looked stunned and taken aback, but Akiva thought they probably didn’t expect to be propositioned sexually or complimented so earnestly. Akiva noticed all of them smile for a half second at different moments and she knew she had them in the palm of her hands. She decided in an instant to seal the deal with her confidence,

“I can see you are all on the fence about this, let me alleviate some of your concerns.” 

 

She started to disrobe slowly. Her soldiers knew this was the cue to leave and that if they didn't they might die. After a moment of stunned silence, Akiva’s full glory was revealed to her soon-to-be sexual compatriots. The three prisoners stared at her with jaws wide open and eyes unblinking. Her large round breasts held firm and pointed slightly aloft, her cock hung down from her pelvis in a half-life state that left it swollen and taut as it slightly swung with her sway. Part of the reason they must have been so shocked was her large penis, being that she looked so feminine, but they would learn soon enough that she was a female through and through.

 

“You,” she pointed at the small blonde woman in front of her

 

“M-m-...m-me?” the young girl could barely get the word out, she couldn't stop staring at Akiva’s large member hanging down between her strong legs.

 

“Yes, you, darling,” Akiva said kindly “how would you like to spend your evening winning favor with your new countess?” 

 

The young girl couldn't speak but gave her answer instantly, nodding quickly, all the while keeping her gaze fixated on Akiva's large, smooth penis. Akiva then whistled loudly and shouted for the key,and the soldier who led Akiva to the prisoners brought her a large brass key. She unlocked the cage and lead the young woman out of her prison. 

 

The Galavadren soldier turned to leave but Akiva stopped him by saying, “Where do you think you're going?” The man turned to see Akiva staring straight at him looking almost angry while the young blonde women stood close pressing her body against the giant woman.

“I thought you would want some privacy, Your Grace.” He said curtly, she chuckled a moment after hearing his words.

 

“Actually, I've decided you will be joining me in my tent tonight as well as these three fine prisoners,” she turned to look at the larger woman and the curly haired man, “Of course that is if these two will be choosing me over slavery or death.” 

The two nodded quickly while making intense eye contact with their new countess. Akiva unlocked the other two cages and helped the two captives onto the soft forest floor gently. She then lead them to where the shorter blonde woman stood and they quickly lined up with her, looking worried. Akiva took note of this and decided to alleviate their worries. Sex was not a place for pain in Akiva’s mind, it was a wonderful palace of pleasure fit for the oldest of god's, greatest of rulers, and peasants alike. 

 

“My friends, you have nothing to worry about, I’m sure you have heard or read tales of what enemies do to prisoners of war, but I assure you that this will be nothing like that.” She smiled warmly and could feel some of their tension lighten. Akiva then sent a thought signal to Titan informing him to send her chariot to the cages on the east side of camp. When the chariot arrived there wasn't enough room for everyone, leaving the small blonde woman to sit on Akiva’s lap. The pressure on her dick made it swell up, causing the small blonde woman to struggle in suppressing a smile.

The chariot made its way to the clearing where Akiva first decided on how to spend her night, where a large maroon pentagon tent now sat in the field surrounded by torches on tall poles. The group of them walked inside the massive tent and the flaps behind them fell closed after a swift pull of the rope from Akiva. She was still undressed and stood several inches tallre and more beautiful than all of them. How lucky these four were to be chosen by the great Akiva Za’laia! Any other conqueror would not treat their prisoners with such respect, but Akiva knew from experience that after tasting her sweet love, many had a tendency to do as she said. She casually sauntered over to the enormous bed set up for her and her soon-to-be lovers and stretched out onto the bed spread eagle but still angled up by the pillows along the back edge. Her face radiated confidence as she lay there in all her natural glory, nipples taut and penis now becoming fully erect. Her vagina was finally revealed once she spread her large muscular legs. Akiva was shocked when the younger blonde woman got up onto the bed and sat up against her right hip.

“What is your name?” Akiva said, staring at her bright blue eyes.

 

“Jayla, Your Grace,” she said shyly while never meeting Akiva’s gaze.

 

“Well, Jayla, I can see you are curious about me, and about my anatomy. You may examine me now.” 

 

Jayla slowly turned to look at her large cock now throbbing with excitement. She was dumbfounded while lightly moving it one side to the other to look at its massive size, soon enough the other three couldn't help but join Jayla on the bed. Akiva began to swell with even greater confidence as every part of her plan for this conquest came to its exact intended end, and if she was right these four were going to be in for quite the time.

  
  



	5. Godly Potential

Hayleta  
26th of Iath, 751 A.O.  
Godly potential

Her mind throbbed and ached. She had never felt something so horrible. The red hot searing pain that filled her head like a wildfire knocked Hayleta out when Groudon first awoke. Next thing she heard was the thudding and pounding of large paws: the Arcanine she was gently tied and strapped to was sprinting through the forest with unimaginable speed and dexterity. The knot was tied tight but was not restricting her hands from untying it. After she freed herself from her bonds she held firm to the reins in front of her and looked around. Several Pokemon darted from tree to tree or sprinted and weaved around her with equal skill, and she made out the forms of a Blaziken, a Marowak, and another Arcanine with the distinct figure of Anaklees riding on it's back and letting loose arrows at unseen foes. The other figures were blurry and moved too fast to get a solid glimpse of them. Hayleta’s mind still throbbed as they flew through the forest.

“Captain Anakless!” Hayleta yelled at the top of her lungs, causing her headache to split open even further. His head turned sharply after letting loose a silver-tipped arrow, and a firm grunt was heard in the distance as his arrow was buried deep in its mark.

“Hayleta!” he yelled back, drawing and firing another arrow, “Is your head okay? I only know rudimentary magic but my head is on fire. You must be dying.”   
Hayleta understood immediately: for whatever reason, when Groudon woke, every magic user in the area felt a horrible mental pain. She wondered if the Galavadren mages felt this pain also, and if so whoever crafted that spell had a ridiculous grasp of magical understanding. These thoughts began to swell with darkness while they sped through the forest. Anaklees continued to fire arrows at their mounted pursuers, so they rode through the forest at a much slower and clumsier pace. The forest only got denser and more complex as they sped across, but they had finally got a good distance ahead, enough to ask a question to Anaklees without revealing any important information,

“Captain, where are we going?” Almost as if the beast knew she wanted a word with the Captain, her Arcanine leapt closer to Anaklees for the exact number of strides needed.

“We are going to Uthethery, the Thuusains Ancient portside   
Castle. Many of us have been stationed there since Theadren’s spy network brought back word of a powerful band of pirates spreading terror over the seas in the north. I pray to the old gods that it lies untouched by these fucking foreign dogs. If we get there in time, our group and our allies at the port could flee before they realize how many warriors we still have.” Anaklees spoke with rage that Hayleta could never have even imagined out of him or any elf. She had nothing else to say, so she just focused her energy into mentally restoring her well of magic energy, a technique home to Zien alone.   
This had all happened so suddenly compared to her months of travel from Zien; enough had happened that it was worth three weeks of events in Zien, yet 4 hours couldn’t have passed since they met Thaedres and the Pokemon in the forest. She redoubled her efforts and felt the familiar surge of magical energy fill her up as her emotions turned dark and angry. She had never felt love for people so quickly but when she meet Thaedres and the other members of that once-beautiful forest sanctuary, she felt feelings like she had only felt for close family or the best of her friends. The rage she felt for the Galavadren attackers bordered on psychotic and it caused her magical refueling efforts to be extra potent.   
The trees began to thin slowly and as the two riders and the Pokemon got closer to the shore, she could smell the sea air, so they must have been getting close. They finally broke free from the tree line after another ten minutes of riding and saw the tall dark gray stone walls of the port castle. It was clearly untouched by the fighting. Hayleta wondered if the enemy even knew about this place.   
Anaklees pulled a spear from the saddle of his Arcanine and waved a quick spell over the head of it, summoning a banner with the Thuusains symbol displayed across it. He waved it at the first visible guard atop the tall corner tower, and they heard a loud rumbling growl before a horn called out and the distinct sound of a drawbridge being lowered was heard while the two Arcanines sped their footsteps up. Hayleta, Captain Anaklees, their two large dog mounts, and the nine now-fully-visible Pokemon ran across the large wooden bridge and into the keep. The two of them demounted and, to Hayleta’s surprise, the two Arcanines didn't pant at all. It was as if that ride was nothing for them and they definitely were running faster than a horse’s full gallop.   
She got a good look at all of the Pokemon who ran with her and Anaklees. The Blaziken and Marowak that she had made out before ran off when they arrived and came back with large bundles of food that they set down by a well near the center of the courtyard of the keeps. Then she noticed a Gengar and a Zangoose climbing the stairs on the far side up to the wall. There were also several large Pokemon running over to the bundles of hair and troughs of meat that were brought out: an enormous Jolteon, which must have been eight feet tall, a Venusaur, a Flygon, and a Swampert. They all met the food with vigor and enthusiasm and the pile did not last very long at the hands of the four Pokemon. The two who stayed with Anaklees and Hayleta were a Scizor and Sceptile both with furiously silent expressions. A door on the far wall swung open and several figures walked brisked towards them, Ov’leil, Reath, Aleia and a small contingent of Thuusains clad in different armor from the warriors at fort Greenwood met them in the courtyard. 

“Captain,” a tall woman said sternly, “We have already been informed by Ov’leil. The ships are being prepared now, but none of us know where to go. We have been studying our maps heartily but so far the best idea we have is Juthais Isle but it's only a matter of time before they get ships here and check their surroundings. These are the basics of conquest.”

“As we rode here, my mind was similarly plagued. I have no fucking idea where the nearly three hundred of us could stay. All the Thuusains have, besides Greenwood and this castle, are a few outposts and spies in the far reaches of the world. The closest option we have is in the Cliffs on Ulthos and that's more than a thousand leagues from here. To take three hundred people on a journey like that with just the four fucking ships for all of us and all of our supplies... Needless to say, it won't work. We need to come up with something fast. We lost those soldiers who chased us from Greenwood but it won't be long until Uthethery is found and laid under siege.” Anaklees’s words hung heavy over the courtyard. Sceptile and Scizor nodded to each other and then made a knowing glance at Anaklees who nodded back to them. The two tall Pokemon ran off up the stairs and leapt over the wall into the grove below. Ov’leil spoke up in her rich, evenly toned voice,

“They will buy us time. For now, we must return to the map room and figure out our course of action.” She and the other two mages turned and strode back towards the keep. Anaklees and the other Thuusains followed, and, after a pause, Hayleta followed them into the old stone keep.

None of the Pokemon followed them into the keep, although Hayleta was absolutely sure they would be welcome if they so chose to. She was astounded at how different the two keeps were on the inside. Greenwood was a massive palace of carved wooden marvels and stained artwork. This castle was marvel of military wonders, gray stone walls almost a hundred feet high with banners and crossed swords decorating its interior. While Hayleta walked through the massive keeps main room lit with torches and cornered with two spiral staircases leading into the upper levels, she felt that same sense of purpose swelling up inside her almost as if she was being alerted or notified of something here in the Uthethery. She walked a good ways behind the rest of them so her glances around the room and long stares at banners went unnoticed by her compatriots. Nothing special stood out, but this didn't deter Hayleta’s spirit: she knew something here had to do with this grand journey she had found herself on.  
They walked up to the base and into the spiral of the right corner staircase. Quickly, they climbed its steps and half-ran into the room lined with large maps lining the walls. In the center of the room was a large table with even more maps and dozens of mapping and charting silver metal tools, some worn from use.

“Where are the rest of our marines, Keova?” Anaklees spoke to the woman who first addressed him in the courtyard.

“They are stationed at the docks sir. We have been stationed along the shore due to the threat of pirates that Theadren spoke of before.”

“Send word to all of them that it's time to pack up and leave. Whether we know where to go or not, we have to leave as soon as we can.” She nodded and gestured to two of her fellow marines and they sped out of the room. 

“Ov’leil.” Anaklees looked at the beautiful dark-skinned woman and Hayleta thought she saw something hidden in his eyes as he spoke.

“Yes?” she answered with a distracted tone, and then seemed to snap back into the room, “What do you need from me, Captain?”

“I need you to speak to Darkhand and the others and get them on patrol. We need to stay hidden as long as we can.” She nodded back to him and darted out of the room as quickly as Keova and her guards. Hayleta started to feel as if she was not going to be tasked with something; she started to be self-conscious about being the only foreigner in a strange southern land, hundreds of thousands of miles away from her home. Even further, she started to feel bad that these thoughts were intruding on her grand adventure.  
“Where did my spirit go?” she thought to herself as Anaklees gave more orders to some of the other marines, telling them to set up communications with some of the Thuusains outposts in the world. Two of the marines, Aleia, and Raeth, left the room hastily on their way to start setting up links to the other Thuusains in the world. Three marines, Hayleta and Anaklees stood in the room staring down at the table in deep concentration. Anaklees spoke up first with a suggestion,

“If we stop at the Halfold Isles then going to the cliffs of Uthos might be a more viable option, but our most recent reports of that band of pirates says they were seen not five clicks from those waters. It’s an option, but a dangerous one.” he spoke solemnly and didn't look up from the table. 

“I...” Hayleta’s nerves got her as she tried to respond, but her resolved sharpened at fear of humiliation in front of Thaedres’s old friend, “I think there is something more pressing to attend to.” Her words made everyone’s eye snap to her almost angrily

“My home has just been destroyed and the threat of my people’s entire existence hangs on a thread of destruction and you dare-

“We need to find out where Theadres is,” she shouted loudly, interrupting the beginning of his tirade. Anakeels paused and stared wide-eyed at Hayleta. Moments passed before anything else happened, all eyes in the room bore down on her.

“Thaedres is your crown prince and he has all of the information about us, and they’re just taking him away somewhere!” Her voice was loud and sharp - she was almost screaming at the top of her lungs. She knew she felt something for Thaedres, but up until now, she thought it was just lust. Could it be something more? She pushed those thoughts aside as Anaklees’s voice broke the silence.

“You’re bold for a Zienein, Hayleta, and you are right. We do need to rescue our dear prince, but over three hundred of our lives are at risk and we need to get out of here.” His voice turned hard as he finished speaking, “I know where they are taking him. There is a dessert in Idgyos called the Demon’s Sand and in the heart of that desert lies an ancient prison. Galavadra has recently traded their way into control of that desert and its glass mines. I believe this is where they will take Thaedres. After we find somewhere to set up a base, I will lead a mission to rescue Thaedres.” Anaklees looked away from everyone and stared out a window with a sorrow-filled expression.   
“I love him. I have been training him since he was not three years old. I will do all I can to get our prince back.”

“Anaklees,” Hayleta said firmly a few moments after he finished speaking. “I wish to accompany you on this mission. I have grown quite fond of Thaedres, and I think I should help.” As soon as she spoke her heart pounded extra loud for a beat and then time stood still. Hayleta was confused as she could walk and move around but everyone was frozen in place. She lightly touched Captain Anaklees’s face to see if this was some elaborate ruse.   
Before she let herself fall into madness, a voice rang out like an angels chorus behind her. Hayleta turned to look at the source of this glorious sound. What she saw almost burned her eyes with radiant beauty: a tall woman stood before her with a dark blue scaled dress trimmed with gold lace, and folded behind her were two large dragons wings. Her eyes glowed a dark maroon and she smiled politely while looking like the most intimidating force Hayleta had ever seen before. Her smile widened before she spoke in a haunting echoey voice.

“Hayleta, it’s good to finally meet you. I am Dravora, The Draconic Queen of the Sky and Goddess of Dragons and Dragon Pokemon. It’s quite the mouthful, I know.” Her smile was attractive yet terrifying and Hayleta was on the verge of tears the entire time their eyes were locked.   
“I’m sorry to inform you of this, my young witch, but you will not be going with the good captain to save Prince Thaedres. You have other matters to attend too.” Her voice rang out softly, an echo following every word. 

“B-but...” Hayleta was having a hard time getting her words out in front of the goddess. Not only was she almost twice as tall as Hayleta, but she emitted an intensely powerful magical aura physically manifested in a blue glow.

“You are wondering why, and you wish to inform me of how you feel about the Prince, but, my child, I know how you feel. I have been influencing you and your path since the first day you and your party set out from Zien. I am the source of your newfound confidence, to an extent,” She winked at Hayleta, a seemingly odd behavior for a goddess. “I made the Thuusains send Thaedres out to meet you and your fellow riders. Needless to say, I am very interested in your future, Hayleta.”   
Her voice hung in the air like a graceful tempest. Hayleta was silent for minutes on end. She was in utter shock. Six hours ago she was just a dignitary from Zien, six months ago she was just a talented high-born witch leaving home for the first time. Why was all of this happening? Could Dravora read thoughts like Uvara could? Why would she try to set up Hayleta with Thaedres?   
“How did she know I would like him?” Her thought manifested so loud she almost said it aloud. 

The goddess giggled softly. “He is a fantastic elf, Hayleta, and to be frank with you, I was quite taken with him myself, which led me to believe you might find his obliviousness and incredible skill just as attractive as I find it.”

“So you can hear me!” Hayleta had no idea how she half shouted at the goddess, but she was tired with this intrusion of privacy.

“Don’t see it as an intrusion of privacy, my dear, look at it as streamlined information. What you don't realise about this power some of us have is that steals away the ability to be dishonest. We can no longer lie or ever truly hide our emotions.” This shocked Hayleta. It wasn’t that she needed to lie or anything, but she just couldn’t imagine taking a part of yourself away like that. Thinking about it, she started to feel guilty about being rude to Uvara for this same power, although it still felt a little odd to have her communication “streamlined” without her consent.

“We have time to worry about the woes of magical thought intrusion later. Now we need to talk about what I have planned for you and why I have it planned for you. All I can offer is a quick explanation. All of us in the old Pantheon have elected to choose a mortal…” the goddess trailed off, looking contemplative, “Champion is the best word in your tongue to represent my intentions. Basically, these champions are the chosen god's way of influencing the world and wars to come. I know not when it will happen, but the world as you know it is about to plunge into chaos. The gods are split and their debates are becoming more and more heated, and I fear violence will soon fall upon the realm of the gods and, just as it was last time, that violence will spill into the mortal world. You are my chosen champion for many reasons, Hayleta, but would you like to know the reason I used my privilege as the oldest and most respected god to choose you first?” 

Hayleta didn't know what to say, she was so stunned. She of course believed Dravora to be the oldest god; her presence alone was ancient and unwaveringly powerful. But Hayleta just could not believe that she would be chosen for such an incomprehensible task. All she knew from what Dravora said was that wars would come, the gods were angry, and the world would change.

“It was because you have a unique mind, my dear. Ever since the day you left Zien, you have solved every problem that faced you like a fantastic mix of a mad alchemist and a royal tactician. Watching you solve problems is awe-inspiring and I believe my three children have much to learn from you.”

“You have children?” Hayleta asked sheepishly, the goddess smiled wider before replying,  
“Well, in a sense. I did create them from my own image, but I did not birth them. You are from Zien, one of the few places in the world completely untouched by the Obliteration, so you actually know of them: Evaandross my oldest son and my two daughters Priava and Pelora.”

“Your children are the dragon riders? The three demigods opposite Rayquaza, Latios and Latias?” Hayleta was dumbfounded at this news. She had great respect and admiration for the Dravos demigods. Her readings about the old ones told her of the overwhelming power of Evaandross and the unstoppable teamwork that the two Dravosken sisters possessed.

“Yes, Hayleta, they are mine, and I am very glad to know you approve of them. You will all get along great. That is, once we awaken all six of them. You see, the Obliteration was solely the doing of Uvara and Celebi. None of the gods knew anything about it and were blindsided when all of the legendaries and their demigods were scattered across the world and hidden away in a deep sleep. All of the gods, including myself, were furious at this so-called ‘betrayal’.”

“You don't agree that it was a betrayal.” Hayleta was gaining her confidence back and wanted to make a good impression on her matron goddess, apparently.

“At first, I was as angry as the others. I raged and stormed along the shores of The Vash’Avala. I love my three children just as many of the others of the Vash Pantheon do, and without them and without our connection to the mortal world, our fury turned into fighting turned into century-long feuds. I know now that Uvara and Celebi had no intention to start conflict in the immortal realm, but nevertheless this is the reality we face, and we must face it together.” 

The last few words sent a chill down Hayleta’s spine and nearly drove her to tears, Dravora clearly noticed this and put her hand on the young witches shoulder. The sensation was like she could never have imagined; it was the warmth of sunlight after a cold rain and the physical relaxation of an orgasm. The blissful sensation trickled down her chest and into her stomach and sat for a moment like a delicious warm bite of strudel, then spread all across her limbs and into her head, leaving her with a sense of peace and giving her physically manifested surges of confidence. After the goddess’ hand left Hayleta’s shoulder, she felt a small echo of that feeling lingering in the same spot where the hand made contact. 

“This is all I have for you now. Tell the good Captain Anaklees about the Nandoshi In The Moutain. It’s an abandoned fortress settlement in the mountains along the northwest shore of Idgyos. It will be more than ample for your forces. I must leave now, but I wish you good luck, for your adventure is about to become something far beyond what it is.”

The goddess disappeared in a blue haze and moments later time returned to the world.

“I’m not so sure, Hayleta, I believe this is something I must do for my pupil alone.” Anaklees said flatly. Hayleta did want to argue and take this mission with the good captain, as Dravora would have called him, but she already trusted Dravora with the utmost confidence and was going to lead the Thuusains to The Nandoshi. 

“Well, alright, Captain, if you say so. But as we were speaking, I remembered a place we could go. There is an abandoned fortress on the east coast of Idgyos my people know of.” This was a lie, but she doubted Anaklees was going to be anywhere near Zein for a long time. “There is ample room for all of us and our ships and it’s in Idgyos, so you will have somewhere to return to after freeing Thaedres.”   
She couldn't help but show some emotion saying his name. She had always been a fast faller when it came to romance but this was starting to get ridiculous. But, she didn’t mind it so much. Part of her growing confidence was from her newfound desire to be with him, and how it is driving her towards her goals with grand devotion. Even if she was being rash, it didn’t matter - if Dravora thought he was a good match, Hayleta was going to do everything she could to give it a shot.

“I hope this is wise. I trust you, Hayleta. You fought hard against the Galavadren and I believe your feelings for my student are sincere. When we arrive on Idgyos, I will tell the Thuusains to follow your lead to the fortress. Take this Hayleta.” He handed her a small green stone. “When I need to get in touch with you, this stone will glow green, and when we are miles and miles apart and I need directions to the keep, we will be able to meet in a dream state to speak without prying ears.”

“Sir, we will follow the young witch if you command it. These are dire times for us Thuusains. If you trust Hayleta, the men will too.” One of the marines left in the room spoke up, and hearing this made that spot of her shoulder feel the echoed sensation from earlier and caused her to swell with confidence.

“Good to hear, Yavros. Well, now that we have our course, we should make our way to the ships. Hayleta, find Ov’leil and tell her it’s time to leave.” Anaklees walked out of the room quickly and the marines followed. Hayleta walked after them but instead of taking the spiral staircase down she walked further down the hall that lead to the walkway of the top wall. She climbed out of stone staircase leading out of the keep, sprinting along the wall, scanning the grounds around Uthethery. She saw Ov’liel standing on a rock in a meditative stance, guarded by Grayskull the Marowak. Hayleta focused on a spot on the ground and blinked down to the ground before racing towards Ov’leil. Grayskull noticed her as soon as she started to run at them, and Ov’leil broke out of her trance leaped off of the rock and faced Hayleta.

“What is it, Hayleta?”

“Captain Anaklees sent me. Round up the Darkhand and the others. It's time to go. We have our course.” Ov’leil nodded to her curtly and then turned to mentally signal to the Pokemon to round them up. Hayleta decided to make her way to the docks now.  
She had never seen a real warship before; Zein only had one port town and it was just a small fishing town. She made her way back to the keep and found her way out to the portside wall of the keep, the sight she saw was wonderful and inspiring: hundreds of Thuusain marines carrying boxes and sacks from the keeps to the ships loading them with supplies for the long journey ahead. The other marines who were not loading up the ships tied knots and readied the sails. Out from the water burst a red Gyarados, holding several chests and bags in its mouth and dripping with water. It lowered the items onto a ship as several marines grabbed the still-wet cargo and took it to the lower decks. She noticed the Swampert from before and a Milotic pulling a much smaller ship with several marines with command uniforms shouting orders to everyone on all the ships and shores. Before she got lost in total awe of the way they all moved in coordination with each other, she ran across the wall to a corner parapet and flew down a ladder at a speed she was not use too. She reached the lower wall and sprinted down the stairs to the field of Thuusains hard at work. 

When she got close, she flagged down the attention of the nearest marine and asked, “I’m looking for Captain Anaklees. Have you see him?”   
The man didn't break concentration while replying. “He’s in his cabin on the Verdant Vengeance,” the man said bluntly as he continued on, before Hayleta had time to ask which ship that was. Something told her that the big gilded one would be the one with Anaklees’ cabin. She continued along the beach at a brisk pace, and found herself at the foot of a long green tringed wooden ramp guarded by two men with large polearms. They readied them.

“What business have you with the Captain?” The woman on the left spoke briefly without making eye contact.

“I am Hayleta, foreign dignitary of Zie-

“Ah, yes. Anaklees is expecting you, young witch.” they lowered their spears and let her walk up the ramp. She started to wonder if “witch” was going to catch on and if she was going to be labeled as such.   
The ship was massive. It must have stretched five hundred feet across the beach, and at least a hundred of the marines worked upon its massive deck, readying the sea behemoth for travel. As she walked to the far side to get to the good Captain’s cabin, she watched many marines hook up massive woven metal cords to a saddle that was being lowered onto the red Gyarados’ head. It clearly sat comfortably on top of its head, for the large red sea beast got into position in front of the ship and sat patiently fifty yards away from the bow. She reached the cabin and knocked briskly. 

“Come in,” the good Captain’s voice rang out from inside. She opened the door and stepped inside. “Ah, Hayleta. I assume this means Ov’leil is tracking down our Pokemon and getting them here to the ships?”

“Yes, sir,” she responded sharply. 

“There is no need for those types of formalities. You’re a dignitary turned hero in battle. We are equals.”

“Actually, Anaklees, I don't believe we are. You command the respect of hundreds of soldiers and you trained the greatest fighter this world might ever know.” She didn’t know why she was choosing this time to give him a speech on his command, but it came to her and she wasn’t going to stop herself. “I hope one day to be half the person you are, Captain Anaklees.”

The captain looked stunned. Hayleta wondered if this was strange and out of the blue when he spoke back, “I hope one day to be half the spell weaver you are, Hayleta. I would like you to take command of the Emerald Arrow, our scouting ship which also happens to be the smallest. Do not fear,” he said as a grimace rolled across Hayleta’s face, “The ship already has navigators and someone to steer, but you will inform them of this fortress, and that will guide all of us to safety.” He gestured for her to come closer to the map on his table. 

“Here is where I will depart from our forces and make my way to the Demon’s Sand.” He pointed to a spot on a flat tanned map. “The men will understand that I have to do this alone. When I leave, Commander Keova will be the next in command. Right now, she is upstairs overseeing the maintenance efforts of the Verdant Vengeance's primary weapon, The Solar Wrath. Go and speak with her. Let her know you will be leading us at the helm of the Emerald Arrow. Then the two of you should return here. I need a quick word before we depart with both of you, Ov’leil and her mages, and Swiftfoot.” 

“Right away, Captain.” She nodded and climbed the now apparent spiral stairs behind her. She reached a small room that must have been directly underneath where the boats guide stood and steered. When she entered the room she saw several men in thick brown aprons tinkering at a large wooden contraption, instructed by a woman in the standard marine garb for the Thuusains.

“Greetings, Hayleta,” the woman spoke up from her note pad, glancing at Hayleta,

“Anaklee-” Hayleta began to speak but was interrupted. 

“Captain Anaklees,” she corrected, without making eye contact.

“Right. Captain Anaklees wanted me to tell you that I will be commanding the Emerald Arrow and will be guiding us to the Nandoshi fortress, and he wants to meet with us, Ov’leil and her mages, and Swiftfoot before we depart.” Hayleta spoke firmly, but did not let anger seep into her speech while replying to Keova.  
She expected to hear the voice of Keova ring out from behind her with an apology for being so rude, but not a sound came out as Hayleta walked down and out the spiral staircase. Several rooms lay in the wooden structure in which Anaklees’ cabin resided. Hayleta wished she could explore every inch of this enormous marvel of the sea, but alas, she had others to summon to this meeting with the captain. It took her awhile to track down the three mages and Swiftfoot the Sceptile, but she finally told them all of the meeting, only minutes before the marines finished loading up and readying the ships. The hundreds of marines got into position on their respective ships while the five of them walked across the deck of the Verdant Vengeance into Anaklees’s chamber where he and Keova were looking over maps and charts. 

“Ah, good, thank you, Hayleta. Now we can get started.” Anaklees spoke firmly and gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. When they all sat down and prepared to hear the battle plan, they heard the sound of anchors being lifted and sails being raised. Hayleta was confused for a moment, for there was virtually no wind today. She knew it was different on the water, but if time was of the essence, this would not be enough to allow them to escape the iron grip of Galavadra. But, the Verdant Vengeance set sail nonetheless. It started out slowly, but her confusion grew as they picked up speed despite the lack of wind. Before she knew it she was unintentionally ignoring the start of the meeting due to her confusion of this phenomena.

“You’re right, Keova, she is inexperienced, but I saw her on the battlefield and you didn’t. This is my call, and if you had seen that magic she was slinging around you would make the exact same call. She might be foreign, but Zien was built on the honesty of the gods and they were the ones seeking us out for an alliance. She and her compatriots took the long journey across half the world to meet with us and I trust her.”   
Hearing these words out of Anaklees made her join back in on the conversation. It was no surprise to Hayleta that Keova would question her command of the scouting ship the Emerald Arrow. She would not be flustered by this.  
“Keova, I understand your scepticism, but I would die before letting down the Thuusains. You have no idea what I’ve been through since I arrived in the Verdant Wastes. I have changed as a person and I have found divine purpose in my Adventure.” her words seemed to send shock into the expressions of Anaklees and Ov’leil, but Raeth, Aleia, and Keova all remained emotionless. They all paused for a moment. The three who seemed unaffected by these words just sat there, confused. Ov’leil and Anaklees made intense eye contact while mouthing words and darting their eyes back and forth between Hayleta and each other. 

“What is it?” Her curiosity bubbled over -- she had to know why this caused so much tension between the two she respected most in this small council. “What did I say?” her last words ended up sounding more heated than she had truly intended.

“Hayleta, why did you use the exact wording: ‘I have found divine purpose in my adventure?’” Anaklees replied with a cool even tone that was a clear mask for his anticipation and curiosity.

“I don't know, those are just the words I used. Why does it matter?” Hayleta grew nervous. She didn’t know why she was hiding her meeting with Dravora from her allies, but she didn't want to overstep anything with the dragon goddess.

“Hayleta, you know as well as I do that this is not how words work. When you study the art of magic, you understand first and foremost that all of life is intentional. Why do you lie to us?” Ov’leil spoke in her far-western accent with inflections that Hayleta was not used to hearing. She was trapped; she couldnt lie to the good captain but she wasn't sure if Dravora would be angry about revealing her new title of her “champion.” When suddenly she filled with the a sense of calm about her telling the truth, Hayleta assumed this was a sign from the goddess herself.

“I was worried about telling the truth for fear of being made a fool, or that none of you would believe me.”

“Believe what, Hayleta?” Anaklees responded softly. 

“I was approached by Dravora the Dragon goddess. She stopped time and came to me while we were in the map room in Uthethry castle. She told me I was… she told me I was to be her Champion, that in the wars to come several of the gods have chosen mortals to be their connection to our world after the ties were severed by the Obliteration.” The room sat in total silence for minutes, the sounds of the sea peppering the room with tension.

“Why wouldn’t you think I would believe you, Hayleta?” Anaklees asked, in the same kind voice as before.

“Because she's a untrustworthy fucking foreign whore!’ Ov’leil shouted angrily, causing Hayleta’s hand to snap to her sword and stare viciously at the dark-skinned woman. She didn’t expect this kind of outrage from Ov’leil. In fact, she thought they would become friends or allies, both being great mages from other countries. 

They stared angrily at each other for a moment before Anaklees shouted over their tension, “Enough.” He sounded angrier, but his face was just as calm and controlled.  
“Ov’leil, apologize for that outburst. We all know you and Thaedres once had feelings for each other, but if you dare let romantic feelings cloud your judgement again, you will be scrubbing the deck of all 4 ships yourself.” This shocked Hayleta even more: why wouldn’t Ov’leil tell her? She knew Thaedres didn’t have any time to talk of past romances during the heat of battle when she made her first move, but Ov’leil had more than several chances to tell her of this, not to mention she clearly witnessed Hayleta’s attempts to woo the young prince. 

“I will not apologize to her, Captain. You cannot force me to get along with the witch who is trying steal away the prince and greatest warrior the world has yet to see. I am trying to protect the Thuusains’ line!” She stood up on the last word and slammed her beautiful wooden staff against the floor of the ship. 

“You’re right, Ov’leil. We both know I cannot contain your emotions, nor can I make you get along with Hayleta. I understand that Thaedres is a desirable man, but you both must understand that if we don't work together, we may never get him back. And, if we don't get him back, we may never reclaim our forest and save Uvara. Even with our prince, we may not be able to win this war. There are dark times ahead for the Thuusains, and to get through them, we will need our allies. Hayleta’s survival is the key to that Alliance, not to mention that if they hear we have been honoring her and treating her as the war hero she is, then they will feel better when we need to ask for supplies and armies and ships and gold. All of you here in this room are part of Uvara’s effort for a new generation of heroes and commanders. You don’t know horrors war creates. We need to trust each other and that means getting over petty conflicts and small disputes.” Anaklees’s speech hung heavy in the air and in the minds of Hayleta and Ov’leil. They made a quick glance at each other then looked away.

“Who's to say either of you will end up with our prince? He's only twenty-two and has yet to see much of the world,” Anaklees chimed in after noticing this glance.

Hayleta was about to say something nice to Ov’leil when a thunderous boom rang out from the shore behind them and shook the world. All five of the people in Anaklee’s cabin ran out to the deck to the horrible sight of the beast Groudon laying waste to the Castle of Uthethery.   
Pillars of smoke rose up from the beach as the blazing fire raged across the surrounding field. On the sands, clearly visible from where the boat was slicing through the waves, Akiva and Kuvosh stood tall, holding their weapons passively and looking fierce. Akiva held something in her hand that did not register right away to Hayleta, but as others around her began to gasp and yell she saw the gruesome sight. In the tall womens armored hand still dripping with blood was the decapitated head of Thaedren, the once proud ruler of the Thuusains. After a moment the yells and gasps silenced, while Anaklees walked forward to stand on an outstretched mast hanging over the edge of the Verdant Vengeance. He glared with fury and unbreaking emotion at his two enemies on the beach, the only sound that pierced the thick tense calm was loud rumbling fires on the shore and the briney waves crashing against the side of the sipe. Their brutal staring contest did not waver for the long few minutes of the ships sailing out of sight and into the vast cerulean ocean beyond. When they finally got out of sight, Anaklees stepped from the mast back to the upper rear deck of his ship, fell to his knees, and began to weep.


End file.
